After firing long-time head coach Bob Marlin, interim coach Derrick Zimmerman and the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns hosted the McNeese Cowboys. This was the 100th edition of the I-10 rivalry and the road team came out on top as the Cowboys are above .500 with the 64-56 win over the Cajuns. Louisiana dropped to 3-10 with the loss on Sunday.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
McNeese jumped out to the early six-point lead as Christian Shumate and Omar Cooper scored on a couple of layups. Louisiana’s on the other hand stalled on their first few offensive possessions. Mostapha El Moutaouakkil missed a pair of layups and Kyndall Davis couldn’t hit a contested corner three-point attempt.
The Cajuns started to pick things up after that, going on a 14-3 run to take the 14-9 lead with less than 12 minutes left in the first half. The run began with a Davis three, then Kylan Ratliff and El Moutaouakkil made a couple of layups to give the Vermilion and White their first lead. Kentrell Garnett followed that up with back-to-back threes while the Cowboys’ lone shot during that run was a Quadir Copeland layup.
Copeland continued to score for McNeese by getting into the paint and hitting a midrange jumper to give his team the two-point lead. London Fields found Brandon Hardy for the corner three ball and coach Will Wade burned a timeout in the process.
After the short break, McNeese went on an 8-2 run as Copeland cut to the basket again for another layup. Former Ragin’ Cajun Joe Charles also got involved on offense for the Cowboys, scoring four points before Javohn Garcia put McNeese up by five points with 4:34 remaining.
Sincere Parker and Copeland put the Pokes up seven after an El Moutaouakkil layup but the Cajuns responded late in the half. Michael Thomas hit the shot clock-beating layup on the second-to-last possession of the half. McNeese went into the locker room up 28-27.
Both teams struggled to get a clean shot off through the first couple of minutes to begin the second half. McNeese however extended their lead early on as Brandon Murray and Shumate were fouled on their made buckets; Shumate the free throw after.
Louisiana picked up the pace near the midway point of the second half. After a timeout, the Cajuns went on a 13-5 run and were on fire from three-point land. Ratliff, Hardy, and Garnett were good from behind the arc, then a Michael Thomas up-and-under layup put the Vemrilion and White up 44-40 with 12 minutes to go.
Parker then took over for McNeese, knocking down three straight shots and grabbing a couple of rebounds in a two-minute span and giving his team the lead again.
It was back-and-forth and highly competitive over then next couple of minutes. Garcia assisted on the Shumate alley-oop dunk and Parker hit from the right elbow to give McNeese the one-point advantage. Hardy scored a couple of times before then and El Moutaouakki’s steal and slam put Louisiana up by one late.
Neither team could put the ball int he basket late in the second half. The programs traded turnover and went a combined 0/6 on shot attempts in almost three-and-a-half minutes.
McNeese ended the scoring drought and went on an 8-1 run in the final three-and-a-half minutes. Parker scored seven points in the closing minutes and Charles knocked down a couple of free throws as the Pokes come out on top 64-56. McNeese improved to 6-5 and Louisiana dropped to 3-10.
BIG NUMBER: 36
McNeese’s bench was crucial in the road win as they outscored Louisiana’s bench 36-22. Sincere Parker scored 22 and Quadir Copeland had another 12 points. For the Vermilion and White, Brandon Hardy had 10 points and Michael Thomas scored seven off the bench in the loss.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Sincere Parker
Parker was a spark off the bench for McNeese on Sunday afternoon. The junior guard made 9/16 shot attempts and scored a game-high 22 points and the Cowboys got the better of the Cajuns 60-56. The Pokes improved to 6-5 while the Cajuns are now 3-10.
UP NEXT: The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns will wait until after the New Year to return to the hardwood as they travel to Conway, South Carolina to take on the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. Tipoff is set for 6:00 on Thursday, January 2nd. The McNeese Cowboys will host the UNO Privateers on Saturday, December 28th. Tipoff in the legacy Center is set for 4:00.