Cowboys struggle past UNT – American Press

Monday night was not for the faint of heart.

In a game of bully ball, the Cowboys battled their way to victory over previously unbeaten North Texas 68-61 in front of 3,537 fans dressed in white inside the Legacy Center.

“Hell of a win for us,” McNeese State head coach Will Wade said. “They’re a great team. It was a big night for our program.”

The win was a record 20th straight at home for the Cowboys, who improved to 2-2. UNT fell to 3-1 with the loss.

After watching a 13-point halftime lead disappear, the Cowboys caught their second wind and outscored the Mean Green 23-9 over the final 7:17.

“We had to lock in mentally and defensively,” forward Joe Charles said. “And we had to make free throws down the stretch.”

With the crowd going wild, the Cowboys held UNT without a basket for 6:58, turning a 52-45 deficit into a 57-56 lead with 3:50 left on a Sincere Parker free throw. Parker sparked the McNeese rally, finishing with 18 points, 15 of which came in the final 16 minutes.

“We knew they were a great defensive team,” Parker said. “I missed a lot of shots in the first half that I should have made.”

McNeese made 12-of-16 free throws in the final four minutes to hold off UNT and its swarming defense. The Mean Green were coming off a win in Minnesota.

Up 59-58 with 2:24 left, Parker hit four straight free throws and Javhon Garcia made two more to push the lead to seven (65-58) with 39 seconds left, sending the crowd into a frenzy.

“Seeing the crowd was crazy,” said Charles, who played the last three years at Louisiana-Lafayette. Charles finished with 10 points, nine rebounds and five steals.

The biggest defensive play for McNeese came when former Cowboy Johnathan Massie’s shot was blocked by Charles with 54 seconds left and the Cowboys up 63-58. The ball bounced off Massie and out of bounds to McNeese.

The Cowboys then ended it at the free throw line.

“This was a big step forward for us as a team,” Parker said. “We have a long way to go, but we can build on this.”

Charles tipped in at the buzzer to give McNeese a 32-19 lead at the end of the first half only to see UNT storm back. The Mean Green, which had four players score in double figures, went on an 18-2 run to take a 42-38 lead with 11:28 left.

“In the first half, our defense turned to offense,” Wade said. “We got stuck. We had to move them and then drive, and we didn’t.”

Quadir Copeland and Parker started going to the basket. Copeland, who saw his most playing time of the season after Alyn Breed was sidelined with an injury, scored nine of his 11 points in the second half.

Copeland, a transfer from Syracuse, made all three of his shots from the floor and was 5-for-8 from the free throw line to pump life into the McNeese offense.

“Copeland was great tonight,” Wade said. “I can’t say enough about him. He was great for us.”

The race is likely out until around the first of the year when the Southland Conference heats up.

It was the type of play Wade was hoping for as he looked to upgrade the McNeese scheme in the offseason.

“We did what we had to do,” Wade said.

The Cowboys finished hitting 26-of-39 free throws after making just seven of their first 15.

“It was very physical, but we had a game plan and we were prepared,” Charles said.

McNeese heads to Paradise Jam Friday in the U.S. Virgin Islands for a three-game event. They open against 3-1 Illinois State at 2 p.m