Dec. 15, 2007

Final Stats

PINEVILLE, La. - It won't go down as the prettiest basketball game in history, but it will go down as a win as Hardin-Simmons' men's basketball rallied from a 13-point deficit to defeat Louisiana College 58-57 in American Southwest Conference action Saturday afternoon in Pineville, La.

The Cowboys trailed 42-29 with 18:32 to play, but the Cowboys showed their savvy in the second half. The Cowboys shot 63 percent in the second half and chipped away at the lead.

HSU never led in the game until the final minutes. LC still led 54-46 with 5:35 to play in the game, but HSU scored the next 10 points to take a 56-54 lead on a Marcus Smith baseline jumper with 1:19 to play. In the 10-0 spurt, the Cowboys received baskets from five different players.

The game was not over when the Cowboys took the lead as Ryan Meadows came down and hit a 3-pointer for LC to give the Wildcats at 57-56 lead with :29 to play. HSU did not call a timeout and Steven Luckey took the ball in the paint like he had all day and hit a fade-away jumper from about eight feet to give the Cowboys the lead at 58-57 with six seconds to play. LC got an uncontested lay-up that rimmed out with two seconds to play and the Cowboys escaped with the win.

It is the second straight game that Luckey, who led all scorers with 15 points, scored a crucial basket in the final minute of action. Mardochee Jean chipped in 14 points and nine rebounds for HSU.

Josh Johnson led LC's effort with 4 points and Daniel Greenhouse had 10 points.

The Cowboys are now 4-3 overall and have won three straight games to improve to 3-1 in conference play. LC fell to 1-6 overall and 0-3 in league play. HSU will play at ASC East favorite Mississippi College on Monday at 7:30 p.m.