What just last week looked like a showdown now is a game of survival for one team and a chance to bury a rival for another.

After a pair of home losses, Lamar will enter Saturday’s game in the Legacy Center, trying to right its listing ship.

The Cowboys will try to sail past their seventh straight foe and extend their overall win streak to eight games when they host the Cardinals in a Southland Conference contest.

The Battle of the Border sees first-place McNeese State (12-5, 6-0) riding a 17-game win streak against SLC competition over the last two seasons. That is the current longest conference win streak in the country.

The Cowboys are 25-1 against the league under head coach Will Wade and have won 25 of their last 26 home games as well. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.

Lamar, who just seven days earlier had looked like the biggest threat to McNeese’s run at a second straight league crown, is 9-8, 4-2.

The Cowboys have won 5 of the last 6 meetings, including sweeping Lamar three times a year ago. Still, Wade thinks this will be a tough game.

“It is a rivalry, and they are going to bring a big crowd and play hard,” said Wade. “They had a tough weekend, but they had been playing good before that.”

The Cardinals are big, led by Andrew Holifield (6-foot-10) and Adam Hamilton (6-9) on the front line. They average 1.9 and 1.5 blocks per game. 

Big front lines have given McNeese problems this season.

“They are the biggest team in the league, a huge front line,” said Wade, who challenged his team last weekend after beating Nicholls last week. 

“I was very clear, I don’t think we are soft, but we were playing soft, and we have to ratchet that up,” Wade said. “We will have to play through their physicality.”

Guard Alexis Marmolejos, a junior transfer from Arizona Western, leads Lamar in scoring at 14.9 points a game. 

McNeese has been on the rise, winning all their games since just before Christmas and after playing a tough non-league schedule. The Cowboys are up to No. 12 in some mid-major polls.

Still, Wade is looking for his team to find its groove.

“We have to get better, keep working,” said Wade. “We don’t finish the first half very well and have had times against big teams. We’re getting there, but we aren’t there yet.”

McNeese leads the league in scoring and defense when it comes to just conference games, averaging 82.3 points a game and only giving up 63.5. Their 20-point margin of victory is also tops.

Javohn Garcia has been especially hot in SLC play, leading in scoring at a 20.2 clip. Sharpshooter DJ Richards has found his shooting touch, connecting on 19 of 41 (46.3 percent) on 3-point tries in league games.

The Cowboys are looking to keep the rest of the Southland at a distance, as they hold just a one-game lead over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, who they face next weekend. 

“There is a lot of basketball left to play and this weekend starts a tough run for us,” said Wade. “We have to make sure we take care of our home court.”

A big crowd is expected for Saturday’s game, as Lamar fans generally come over in strong numbers. Last year more than a few of them had to turn back as the I-10 bridge became impassable with ice just before the game.

With that in mind and weather coming into the area early next week, McNeese officials moved the start time up for Monday’s game against Stephen F. Austin to 3 p.m.