Feb. 24, 2005

Box Score

SAN MARCOS - John Ford scored a team-high 14 points and broke the final tie of the game with a three-pointer with 1:23 to play as McNeese State held off a Texas State comeback attempt for a 73-68 win Thursday in Strahan Coliseum.

Ford's three-pointer came after Texas State had an opportunity to take the lead for the first time in the half. However, Josh Naylor's three-point attempt was rebounded by Edward Garriet, and at the other end Ford knocked down a trey that gave the Cowboys the lead for good.

After Texas State answered with a jumper by Zach Allison with 48 seconds cutting the lead to one, Ford converted a three-point play. The freshman point guard would drive inside and lay a shot off the glass and in the process draw a foul from Roderick Adams. The Bobcats would be called for goaltending and Ford nailed the ensuing free throw to give McNeese a 72-68 lead with 21 seconds to play.

At the other end, Anthony Dill had a shot blocked by Aldryn Wardell and McNeese State's Ryan Price made the second of two free throw attempts to account for the final margin of victory.

The win was the Cowboys' fourth in a row, including three on the road. They improved to 11-13 overall and 6-7 in the Southland Conference. Texas State dropped to 13-12 and 7-7 in SLC play. The Bobcats fell to sixth in the SLC standings while McNeese moved into a three-way tie for seventh with just over a week to play in the regular season.

Texas State trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half but outscored the Cowboys 7-2 in the final two and a half minutes of the period to cut the Cowboys' lead to 43-31 at the break. Lance Burroughs hit a three-pointer at the buzzer for Texas State.

The Bobcats would get to within four points at 50-46 with 11 minutes left to play when Adams scored on a break-away dunk to cap a 7-0 Texas State run. Adams' dunk came when Ford stumbled on an inbounds pass from Jamelle Juneau. The ball bounded off Ford's hip and into the hands of Adams at midcourt who streaked to the other basket.

Adams finished with a career-high 15 points to lead the Bobcats in scoring. He also had a career-high four steals but had just one assist while turning the ball over three times.

Texas State had two opportunities to cut the lead further but the second of two straight free throws led to a Ford three-pointer that pushed the Cowboys' lead back to 53-46.

Andrew Queen was 3-for-6 from three-point range and finished with 11 points for McNeese State. Dill, Naylor and Andre Oupoh all finished with 10 points for the Bobcats who lost for the first time this season when shooting 50 percent from the field.