LAKE CHARLES, La. – Tre Jackson scored a career-best 21 points and Western Carolina used a hot-shooting performance in the first half to race past McNeese State 88-69 on Friday afternoon inside the Legacy Center in its first of three games in Louisiana.
 
The Catamounts even their record at 2-2 on the year while McNeese State falls to 1-2.
 
Jackson topped his previous WCU best of 17 points in the season-opener at Georgia and his previous collegiate best of 18 against TCU while playing for Iowa State. The Columbia, S.C., native went 7-for-10 from the field and 7-for-9 behind the 3-point line. Tyzhaun Claude logged his second straight double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Russell Jones Jr. added 18 points followed by Bernard Pelote with 11. Vonterius Woolbright scored eight points, grabbed seven rebounds, and distributed a game-high nine assists.
 
Christian Shumate led McNeese State with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Trae English and Johnathan Massie both finished with 10 points.
 
Deadlocked at two after the first minute, WCU was aided by a quartet of 3-pointers made by Jackson and Jones Jr. to lead 18-8 at the under-12 media timeout. The Catamounts made seven of their first nine shots from the field. A Claude layup gave the Catamounts a 22-8 with 11 minutes to play in the opening half.
 
The Cowboys trimmed the Catamount lead to 24-16 thanks to an English 3-pointer with just over eight minutes remaining, but a Pelote 3-pointer on the next WCU possession pushed the Catamount lead back to double digits. Claude's layup at the 3:12 mark gave the Catamounts a half-best 15-point lead, 41-26 and WCU lead 41-30 at halftime. WCU finished the opening stanza 14-for-25 (56 percent) from the field and made seven of 17 (41.2 percent) of its 3-point attempts.
 
A Claude dunk opened the second half scoring 19 seconds into the period as WCU used a 6-0 run to grab a 49-32 lead at the 18:18 mark. Jones Jr drained a 3-pointer to give the Catamounts a 52-32 edge with 17:21. A pair of Tyler Harris free throws with just over eight minutes remaining gave the Catamounts a game-high 31-point lead, 77-46. The Cowboys outscored the Catamounts over the final seven minutes 20-9 with a Dionjhae Thomas dunk serving as the game's final basket.
 
WCU finished the game 27-for-50 (54 percent) from the field, 15-for-30 (50 percent) behind the 3-point line, and 19-for-31 (61.3 percent) at the free throw line. McNeese State was 25-for-58 (43.1 percent) from the field, 5-for-14 (35.7 percent) in 3-point attempts, and 14-for-23 (60.9 percent) at the free throw line. The Catamounts held a 39-30 edge in rebounds.
 
The Catamounts have a short turnaround, facing Lamar at Noon ET/11 a.m. local time on Saturday. That contest will have live stats available on catamountsports.com
 
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