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LAKE CHARLES, La. – A scoreless stretch in the first half proved to be too much for HBU to overcome as the Huskies fell to the McNeese Cowboys, 85-58, in a Southland Conference men's basketball matchup on Saturday night.
 
Zach Iyeyemi gave the Huskies (4-16, 3-9 SLC) an early 5-4 lead before a nearly nine-minute scoreless streak left HBU trailing 21-5 with eight minutes left in the first half. Iyeyemi and Hunter Janacek broke the scoreless spell with the next two buckets to bring the HBU deficit back to 11. McNeese (11-11, 4-8 SLC) got up by as many as 20 in the half before Janacek hit a pair of threes late that helped send the game into halftime with the Cowboys leading 40-24.
 
The Cowboys were first on the board in the second half with a Keyshawn Feazell dunk but Pedro Castro knocked down back-to-back threes to bring the score to 42-30. HBU got as close as 11 after an Iyeyemi layup at the 15:29 mark but a 9-0 run put McNeese up by 20 and the Cowboys led by at least 18 the rest of the way.
 
Castro finished with a team-high 17 points and seven rebounds while Janacek added 15 points and a career-high nine rebounds. Freshman Brycen Long set a new career-best with five steals to go along with four rebounds and three points. Jade Tse ended the night with a game-high six assists.
 
The Huskies struggled from three for the third-straight game, shooting 28.1 percent (9-of-32) from deep while connecting on 32.8 percent (20-of-61) from the floor. McNeese shot 55.2 percent (32-of-58) for the game and 40 percent (10-of-25) from three. The Cowboys held a 41-32 advantage on the boards.
 
The Huskies will be home for the final three games of the season, playing three games in six days, starting with Sam Houston this Monday, Mar. 1, in Sharp Gym at 7:00 p.m.