LAKE CHARLES — The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns were able to overcome a spirited performance from the McNeese Cowboys on Thursday night to pick up a hard-fought 78-70 road victory at the Legacy Center.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Louisiana held an early lead as Terence Lewis II made a layup, Greg Williams Jr. added a three-pointer and Jordan Brown made a layup.
McNeese didn’t make its first field goal until Johnathan Massie hit a jumper with 17:44 left in the first half but that seemed to give the Cowboys a spark and the game would soon be tied.
The two teams battled back and forth for more than six minutes, and the game was tied 19-19 with 9:20 to go before halftime.
A layup by Christian Shumate ignited a 12-4 run by McNeese. With 5:03 left in the first, the Cowboys held a 31-23 lead over the Ragin’ Cajuns.
Louisiana would reclaim the lead with a 13-0 run while McNeese went scorelss for more than four minutes. The Ragin’ Cajuns would lead by as many as five before Schumate made a putback right before the buzzer.
At the break, Louisiana held a 38-35 lead.
The Ragin’ Cajuns maintained its lead until the Cowboys cut it down to one point after a Zach Scott layup and a Trae English jumper.
A jumper by Brown pushed it back to three but McNeese answered with a Scott jumper. Louisiana then went on a 7-0 run to make it 70-61 advantage for the Ragin’ Cajuns.
McNeese kept fighting but everytime the Cowboys would trim the lead down to three or four, Louisiana answered as the Ragin’ Cajuns picked up their tenth win of the season.
BIG NUMBER: 8
The win by the Ragin’ Cajuns was the eighth straight in the series between the Interstate-10 rivals. The last win for McNeese was a 80-70 win in December of 2014.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME: GREG WILLIAMS JR. & CHRISTIAN SCHUMATE
Williams was a steady force for the Ragin’ Cajuns as he scored 17 points, made 5-of-7 from three-point range, with four assists and five rebounds. Schumate recorded a double-double as the Cowboys star scored 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting while pulling down 14 rebounds.
UP NEXT: Louisiana (10-1) will travel to Austin, Texas to take on the University of Texas in its final non-conference game on Wednesday, December 21. Tip is set for 7 p.m. McNeese (3-8) meanwhile will travel to take on Southern Miss on Sunday. Tip is set for 2 p.m.