Lawson's 37 points sends McNeese past Abilene Christian

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ABILENE, Texas (AP) — A.J. Lawson scored a career-high 37 points and Shamarkus Kennedy had a double-double and McNeese State beat Abilene Christian 88-84 on Wednesday.

Lawson finished 11-of-17 shooting and made all but one of his 14 fouls shots. The lone blemish on his stat line was being credited with nine turnovers.

For his part, Kennedy scored 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting with 11 rebounds and six blocked shots. The duo made 21 of the Cowboys' (6-9, 1-3 Southland) 29-made field goals. McNeese shot 29 of 46 (63%) to overcome 24 turnovers.

Joe Pleasant's 3-pointer with 54 seconds left narrowed the Wildcats' deficit to 84-82. The teams exchanged turnovers before Leondre Washington and Myles Hutchinson each made a pair of foul shots in the last nine seconds to seal it.

Pleasant led Abilene Christian (8-7, 3-1) with 19 points, Payten Ricks scored 18 and Hayden Howell and Coryon Mason 10 apiece.

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