McNeese regroups in 2nd half, beats Houston Baptist 88-79

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LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) Jarren Greenwood scored 21 points while dishing out four assists to help McNeese regroup in the second half to beat Houston Baptist 88-79 on Saturday and remain in contention to grab the final spot in the Southland Conference Tournament.

The victory halted a five-game losing skid at home for McNeese (10-16, 7-9), which is currently in ninth place in the conference standings. The Cowboys must move up to eighth to make the conference tournament slated to begin March 7 in Katy, Texas. They travel to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Wednesday before concluding the regular season against Lamar.

Houston Baptist's Chukuka Emili closed out the first half with a 3-point jumper and followed with a dunk to give the Huskies a 41-39 halftime advantage. HBU opened the second half with a 10-2 spurt and held the lead until a Greenwood layup gave the Cowboys a 57-55 advantage at the 10:02 mark. The Cowboys finished with 10 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

McNeese was just 1 of 16 from distance while the Huskies made 7 of 22. The Cowboys made 25 of 30 free throw attempts compared to 10 of 12 for HBU.

Kalob Ledoux finished with 14 points and Quatarrious Wilson added 13 with 10 rebounds.

Jalon Gates and Edward Hardt had 17 points apiece for HBU (6-23, 2-14). Braxton Bonds added 10 with 10 assists and eight rebounds.