Courtesy: McNeeseSports.com P.J. Alawoya puts in a lay up.
Honolulu, HI – The McNeese State Cowboys dropped their third and final game of the Rainbow Classic Tournament with a 68-59 loss to the University of Southern Utah Thunderbirds here Monday night.
The Cowboys (0-3, 0-0) led the entire way and were up by as many as nine points early in the second half, but gave up the lead for the first time in the contest with 9:48 left in the game and never regained it.
McNeese went into the half holding a 35-20 lead over the Thunderbirds (1-2, 0-0) but came out of the locker room cold, only making three field goals in the first 13 minutes of the period.
“When it was tied up 35-35 they just made some big shots and we didn’t,” said McNeese head coach Dave Simmons. “They hadn’t been making threes all night but hit two real quick.”
P.J. Alawoya put up his first double double of the season, finishing with 10 points and 13 rebounds. He reached the double double mark shortly into the second half and finished up the tournament with 20 total rebounds.
The Cowboys managed to turn 19 Thunderbird turnovers into 19 points and only gave the ball up 12 times themselves. McNeese was outrebounded, however, 39-23.
“We definitely need to improve in that category because when it comes down to it, the biggest difference was at the glass,” said Simmons of the rebound totals. “But I have seen some things, especially in the younger guys, that shows we’ll get better at it.”
Junior Stephan Martin led the Cowboys with his 17 points, 12 of which came in the second half, while Patrick Richard was close behind with 16. Diego Kapelan had 10 points of his own, including two three point balls, putting him at 10-17 from beyond the three-point line this season. Martin finished up the three game tournament with 49 total points.
“We’re leaving here 0-3 but we’re leaving playing better basketball then we were on day one,” added Simmons. “I know we can shoot the ball well and we got to the line a little more, but we’ve still just got to execute when the score’s close.”
The Cowboys will return to Lake Charles for their home opener where they have a 2 p.m. match up scheduled against Louisiana College in Burton Coliseum.
Courtesy: McNeeseSports.com
