THE McNeese State Cowboys concluded their experience in the Bahamas with a pair of wins while Duquesne Dukes made their debut in dominant fashion at the Summer of Thunder.
The Cowboys lost the first game of the series to the Commonwealth Bank Giants (79-65) on Sunday but followed with wins over the Raw Talent Elite (98-78) and IBA Elite (114-72) on Wednesday at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium.
AJ Lawson led the Cowboys with 25 points wile Dru Kuxhausen scored 20 and Sha’Markus Kennedy scored 13.
Lathaniel Bastian led Raw Talent with 17 points and nine rebounds, while Ramon Dames and Malachi McCoy each scored 12.
“It’s a big advantage for us,” said second-year head coach Heath Schroyer said of the experience playing at the Summer of Thunder, “Getting the 10 days of practice and then go over there and play three good teams, we’ll get to learn a lot about ourselves. We’re going to play everybody in every game and we’ll look at different rotations and different lineups.”
The Cowboys featured eight players that took the floor together first time at McNeese, gaining invaluable bonding experience.
“It’s an opportunity to get to know our team before we get into full practice in the fall. It’s almost like a training camp. We’re still lifting (weights) in the morning and shooting in the mornings and then come back in the afternoon to practice and put things in,” said Schroyer
“We have so many new guys so with the 10 days of practice and being able to play games and see what happens with the guys under the lights, I don’t think you can put a price on the experience for our guys on the floor and off the floor.”
The Dukes opened with a 103-89 win over Raw Talent Elite Wednesday night.
That was just a rough and tumble game,” said DU head coach Keith Dambrot. “It was a really hard game to play, because there was really no flow with all the whistles. Our guys were able to fight through it. We still need to shoot it better.”
Duquesne completes its tour tomorrow night against Abaco Elite.
“That was just a rough and tumble game,” said DU head coach Keith Dambrot
“It was a really hard game to play, because there was really no flow with all the whistles.
“Our guys were able to fight through it. We still need to shoot it better.”
Duquesne, which went 8-of-31 from the 3-point arc, shot 40 percent for the game. Raw Talent Elite, which was led by Adam Johnson and Dominic Bridgewater with 23 points each, finished at 51 per cent.
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