Cowboys fall to Lions in OT, 82-80

LAKE CHARLES – Five McNeese Cowboys scored in double-figures for the third straight game but it was a 32-point outing by Texas A&M-Commerce’s Demarcus Demonia that helped the Lions escape with an 82-80 overtime win over McNeese in Southland Conference men’s basketball action on Saturday.

The loss was the first for McNeese in league play as it falls to 5-11 overall and 2-1 in the conference. Commerce improved to 6-11 and 2-1.

Harwin Francois led the Cowboys with 18 points behind 6 of 8 shooting, all from three-point range, but the senior was limited to playing just 23 minutes after falling into foul trouble. Trae English and Zach Scott each scored 17 while Christian Shumate added 16 and Johnathan Massie 10.

Massie led the team with a career-high nine rebounds while Shumate added eight. English dished out a career-high eight assists to go along with three steals while turning the ball over just three times in 37 minutes of play.

McNeese led 31-23 with just under five minutes to play in the first half when Francois, who had nine points at the time, was whistled for his third foul of the game and missed the rest of the half. The Lions took advantage of not having his sharp shooting on the floor and cut the deficit to 37-34 at the half.

The Cowboys scored the first five points in the second half, including another three by Francois, to go up 42-34, and maintained a 5-8 point lead until the Lions went on a 23-6 run over an 8-minute span and held a 67-58 lead over McNeese with 4:43 to play.

Francois helped rally the Cowboys back by burying two three-pointers in four possessions then a jumper by English cut the margin to 70-68 with 1:00 on the clock. Following a Demonia dunk to give AMC a 72-68 lead with 38 seconds remaining in regulation, English made good on a layup, then a steal by Scott led to his game-tying jumper in the paint with 1.3 seconds to play to send the game to overtime tied at 72-72.

With 2:20 to play in the extra period, English gave the Cowboys a 78-74 lead off a layup then the Lions scored three straight off a Demonia free throw and Tommie Lewis layup to pull to within 78-77 with 1:30 left.

Scot then scored off a layup to make it 80-77 McNeese with 1:02 remaining. From there, Commerce scored its remaining points at the free throw line where it made 5 out of 6 while McNeese turned the ball over on two straight possessions, the first one on an inbounds pass with 29 seconds left and the Cowboys leading 80-79.

Scott’s three-quarter desperation shot at the buzzer bounced off the rim to end the game.

McNeese shot 46 percent in the game (32-70) including 10-29 for 35 percent from three-point range. For the second straight game, the Cowboys were perfect at the free throw line, hitting all six shots.

Commerce connected on 27 of 57 for 47 percent, 13 of 29 for 45 percent from behind the arc, and 15 of 21 at the free throw line for 71 percent.

The Lions held a 36-35 rebounding advantage and outscored the Cowboys 13-2 from the bench.

Next up the Cowboys will visit Northwestern State at 8 p.m. on Thursday.