BEAUMONT, Texas – After trailing by as many as 18 points in the first half, Lamar University rallied only to fall on a last second shot by McNeese's Dru Kuxhausen to give the Cowboys a 70-66 victory over the Cardinals Saturday afternoon in the Montagne Center.
 
The last-second three-pointer followed by a free throw propelled McNeese into the Southland Championships next week in Katy, Texas. It also set up a postseason rematch of the Battle of the Border as the two teams will square off in the opening round of the conference tournament.
 
"I thought McNeese deserved to win," said LU head coach Tic Price. "They fought harder than we did, especially in the first half. I thought we did a much better job defensively in the second half, except for that final possession. In fairness to our kids, we dug ourselves a deep hole and they never quit fighting. We came up short, and when that happens it means the other team came up with plays at crunch time and we didn't."
 
Despite 23 points (and 10 rebounds) from senior T.J. Atwood, the Cardinals struggled to score Saturday. Big Red finished the day shooting 21-of-66 (.318) from the field, which included just 8-of-29 (.276) in the second half. The Cardinals knocked down six triples and finished the day shooting 33 percent from long range.
 
Atwood was joined in double figures by freshman Anderson Kopp and sophomore Davion Buster. Kopp scored 16 points, including a team-high four three-pointers, while Buster added 10. Senior V.J. Holmes finished senior day with eight points and a game-high eight assists.
 
The Cowboys struggled in the second half as well shooting just 23 percent from the field but finished the game 25-of-62 (.403) following an 18-of-32 (.563) first half. McNeese also converted 8-of-21 (.381) attempts from long range. The Cowboys were led in scoring by 22 points from Kuxhausen.
 
Holding a one-point lead, the Cardinals rattled off a 26-9 run to build an 18-point advantage, 41-23, with 4:17 remaining in the opening half. The Cowboys went in search of the knockout punch, but LU denied their rivals the opportunity.
 
The Red and White methodically began to claw their way back into the game. Trailing by 15 with 1:39 remaining in the half, LU scored the final six points of the half capped by a Kopp triple at the buzzer to trim the deficit down to just nine points. McNeese's advantage remained at nine points in the second half when the Cardinals once again started to chip away at the deficit.
 
Following two Atwood free throws, the Big Red pulled within five with less than nine to play. The Cards made it a one-possession game following an Atwood basket in traffic, 61-59. With 2:16 remaining, the Cardinals got a spot-up three from Buster, to pull within a point but it appeared that would be as close as the Cardinals would get.
 
Big Red managed to get the ball back with 1:19 to play and trailing by only two points. Following a missed jumper from Atwood, he got his own rebound and managed to score, despite the contact, to tie the game at 66 with just 29 seconds remaining.
 
Following a McNeese timeout, the Cowboys found Kuxhausen to the right of the circle who hit a three-pointer and was fouled with five-tenths of a second remaining. Kuxhausen hit the subsequent free throw for the final score.
 
The sixth-seeded Cardinals will open play in the Southland Conference Championships Wednesday against McNeese. The game against the Cowboys will tip off at 7:30 p.m. from the Merrell Center in Katy. The game will be broadcast on Newstalk 560 KLVI.