McNeese State beats SE Louisiana 69-60

Jan 2, 2014, 11:30 pm

LAKE CHARLES, La. -- Kevin Hardy scored 17 points, grabbed nine rebounds and handed out seven assists as McNeese State beat Southeastern Louisiana 69-60 on Thursday.

Hardy's back-to-back second half dunks awakened the crowd and put McNeese State up 54-46 with 7:20 remaining.

McNeese State (3-10, 1-0 Southland) got 15 points from Ledrick Eackles and 12 from Desharick Guidry. The Cowboys out-rebounded SE Louisiana 40-30, led by Craig McFerrin with 11.

McNeese State trailed 23-12 early in the first half, but closed the half on a 9-1 run to tie it at 29.

Dre Evans had 19 points for SE Louisiana (5-7, 0-1), Julian Chiera had 14 and Joshua Filmore added 11. The Lions made 9 of 24 shots from behind the arc.

Evans' 3-pointer, followed by Julian Chiera's layup made it a six-point game with 35 seconds left, but McNeese State made 3 of 4 free throws in the final 24 seconds.