Patrick Richard scored 19 points and Jeremie Mitchell added 18 to lead McNeese State to a 71-69 victory against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday night.
Mitchell made five 3-pointers for the Cowboys (5-8, 1-0 Southland Conference). Dontae Cannon had 14 points and Rudy Turner 13.
Chris Hawkins-Mast and Terence Jones scored 13 points each to lead the Islanders (1-13, 0-2). Myron Dempsey had 10 rebounds.
Dempsey's layup cut the McNeese State lead to 61-60 with 1:56 remaining. But Turner converted a 3-point play, and Patrick added a jumper and two free throws to give the Cowboys a 68-62 cushion with 18 seconds remaining, and they protected the lead with free throws.
McNeese State made 15 of its first 19 shots from the floor, including 7 of 8 from 3-point range, en route to a 39-31 halftime lead.
