COMMERCE – In the first Southland Conference game of the season on the Hunt Regional Healthcare Court in the Field House, the East Texas A&M University men's basketball suffered a 75-56 setback to SLC preseason favorite McNeese Cowboys on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Lions have lost their second in a row to fall to 2-13 on the season and now 0-3 in conference play, while McNeese is 9-5 overall and 3-0 in conference play. The Cowboys came into the week receiving votes in the College Insider Mid Major Top 25 and have now won four in a row over the Lions.
 
McNeese started off the game scoring the first four points and did not trail in the game. The Lions answered to tie the game at four, but the Cowboys scored 14 of the next 17 to lead 18-7 at the 12:50 mark of the first half, the game was not tied again. The Cowboys led by as much 20 in the first half.
 
The Cowboys' Javohn Garcia led all scorers with 16 in the first half, shooting 7 for 9 from the field. Both Evan Phelps (Duncanville) and Mykol Sanchez-Vega (Orlando, Fla.) added six points each for the Lions.
 
McNeese shot 17 for 34 in the first half, while East Texas A&M shot 9 for 30. The Cowboys also had a 24-17 edge in rebounding and 22-6 advantage in points in the paint. The Lions used a 10-2 run in the second half to pull to within 12, which was the smallest deficit in the second half for the Lions.
 
Yusef Salih (Gainesville, Va.) had team-best 18 points for the Lions, shooting 6 for 12 from the field and 4 for 8 from deep. Sanchez-Vega tallied nine points, while both Camerin James (Apopka, Fla.) and Josh Taylor (Atlanta, Ga.) had seven rebounds each.
 
Garcia ended the game with 24 points for the Cowboys, while Sincere Parker added 14, Quadir Copeland tallied 13, and Joe Charles scored 10. McNeese outshot East Texas A&M, 50.9 percent to 31.3 percent.
 

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The Lions close out the first conference home stand of the season against Nicholls on Monday night at 6:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at LionAthletics.com/tickets.