After a long-fought, triple-overtime battle with UT Rio Grande Valley, the McNeese Cowboys men’s basketball team advanced to the championship game of the Southland Conference Tournament with an 84-80 win. Less than 20 hours later, the Pokes returned to the hardwood to play for the right to a third consecutive conference title and NCAA Tournament bid.
McNeese faced Stephen F. Austin on Wednesday and claimed its third consecutive conference championship after crushing the Lumberjacks in the Townsley Law Arena 76-59.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Wednesday’s game was physical and didn’t have many baskets scored through the first handful of minutes. In the first four and a half minutes, the game was tied 2-2, with McNeese’s lone basket being a Garwey Dual alley-oop to Jerrell Colbert on the team’s first offensive possession. Colbert would then get taken out of the game a few possessions later with a lower-body injury. Dual also ended the scoring drought with a pull-up jumper.
Both offenses began to find their rhythm up through the middle part of the first half. Tyshawn Archie made a highlight play on both ends, blocking a Stephen F. Austin three-point attempt and taking the basketball coast to coast for a contested layup. The Lumberjacks also got things going as four players scored to make it a 17-13 game in favor of McNeese with 11:19 to go in the first half.
Javohn Garcia had a first half to remember in the Southland Conference Championship. The senior guard started the game 7/7 from the floor and was a perfect 5/5 from behind the arc. Garcia also had an impact on the defensive side during the run, grabbing five boards, blocking two shots, and getting a steal. Larry Johnson assisted on a couple of Garcia’s shots from downtown.
Garcia’s scoring pushed McNeese’s lead to 31-20 with 7:11 left in the first half. Johnson and Archie added to the fund with a pair of free throws, a layup, a dunk, and a corner three to further extend the Cowboy lead. That scoring output was a part of a 16-5 run by McNeese.
Over the final three minutes of the first half, the Poke offense slowed down as Garcia put up four more points. Keon Thompson and Kam Burton scored SFA’s final five points before the break. McNeese was still ahead 42-25 heading into the locker room.
Stephen F. Austin’s Thompson tried to will his team back early on in the second half, finding Jerald Colonel for a dunk, then scoring the next nine Lumberjack points. They included a few midrange shots and more from the free throw line.
After that, Johnson and Archie continued to be sources of offense for the Cowboys. Both players combined to score 15 of McNeese’s next 17 points as each knocked down a three-pointer. The other player to score for the Pokes was Yanis Ndjonga on a layup that Archie assisted. That scoring output led to a 17-9 run by McNeese up to the halfway point of the second half.
The Cowboys played ball control the rest of the way, not allowing the Lumberjacks to go on any big runs to claw back into the game. In the final five minutes, SFA only put up seven points while being down by 20 or more points.
At the final buzzer, McNeese found itself a 76-59 winner over Stephen F. Austin. The win secured the team’s third stright Southland Conference Championship in three years and the 28th win of the season.
BIG NUMBER: 3
For the third year in a row, the McNeese men’s basketball team has captured the Southland Conference Tournament title and punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament. Bill Armstrong also won his first conference championship in his first year as the program’s head coach.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Javohn Garcia
The reigning Southland Conference Player of the Year showed when it mattered most. In the Southland Championship, Garcia scored a game-high 31 points on 11/18 shooting. He was also 5/8 from three point range, had five rebounds, three steals, and two blocks as McNeese captures its third straight conference title in a 76-59 win over Stephen F. Austin.
UP NEXT: The McNeese Cowboys will wait to find out their seeding and who they will play in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. Dates and times will be announced on March 15th.