Bob Marlin and the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns men’s basketball team travel an hour west to Lake Charles to take on Will Wade and the McNeese Cowboys in the latest edition of the I-10 rivalry. Benches and coaches were separated for a different reason this time as the Cowboys won 74-72 in the Legacy Center and improved to 10-2 on the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Louisiana opened the game with a 6-2 lead thanks to a layup by Themus Fulks, Kobe Julien, and Joe Charles. McNeese responded and took their first lead with a couple of made three-pointers by Javohn Garcia and Antavion Collum, going up by four.
Following a timeout, the Cajuns and Cowboys went back and forth with Hosana Kitenge blocking a shot but CJ Felder got the rebound and finished with the put-back dunk. Garcia and Kentrell Garnett traded threes before Kitenge cut it to a 19-15 deficit with under 12 minutes to play.
Both teams couldn’t put the ball in the basket and turned the ball over a total of seven times. Christian Shumate ended the three-minute drought with a mid-range jumper to put McNeese up by six before a foul on Omar Cooper and a timeout. Garnett scored eight straight for Lousiana, including two from distance to tie the game at 23.
A few made free throws, a fourth Garnett three-pointer, and a Fulks layup put the Cajuns up by eight and capped off a 16-2 run. Collum made the and-one layup with 4.6 seconds to go and McNeese headed into halftime with a 33-28 deficit.
Garcia opened the second half for McNeese with a tough, off-the-glass and-one layup and then blocked a shot in the paint the next possession. Shumate drove to the hole for the extra two points and then Wells gave McNeese the lead with a deep two-pointer less than 90 seconds in.
Kitenge made back-to-back layups to even up the score, and then Fulks drove and swished a floater to give Louisiana the 39-37 lead before a TV timeout.
Fulks made another floater to give Louisiana the 45-40 advantage before both teams needed to be separated due to a scrum near the Cajuns’ bench because of a loose ball foul on DJ Richards. Felder was called for a technical foul after the foul and three other McNeese players including Cooper and Collum. There were two other technical fouls collected with one being on coach Wade. That led to Garnett making five out of six free throws and possession for Louisiana.
Blake Butler extended Louisiana’s lead to 13 but then got called for a technical foul after pointing and mouthing to the crowd. That same crowd got hyped after Shumate made it a 57-49 deficit with a fast-break dunk. Mcneese made it a three-point game with a couple of technical free throws by Richards, who then hit the step-back three with 8:41 left.
Wells made some huge plays during the next few possessions as he found Shumate for the backdoor dunk, picked a Cajun player’s pocket, and took it himself for the easy layup. The guard then assisted Garcia’s wing three to put McNeese up 61-59 with 6:55 to go. Coach Marlin called a timeout as the Cowboys finished a 19-4 run.
Richards hit another three and soon after Shumate blocked a shot. That led Wells to take it to the basketball for the layup and another timeout by the Cajuns.
Charles hit back-to-back corner three-pointers to give Louisiana the two-point lead at the 3:12 mark. Fulks got fouled and made both of his free throws to go back up two but Richards hit another transition three to give McNeese the 73-72 lead with under 50 seconds to go.
Cameron Jones made his second free throw to make it a two-point game. McNeese got the stop on defense and drew a foul but Shumate missed both of his shots from the charity stripe. The Cajuns missed their desperation three and the Cowboys improved to 10-2 with a 74-72 win.
BIG NUMBER: 8
The was no lack of chippiness and trash talk in Sunday’s contest as there were eight total technical fouls handed out. Four from each side with three of McNeese’s came after a loose ball foul.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Shahada Wells
Wells led the offense and directed traffic as the Cowboys came out on top 74-72 to improve to 10-2 on the season. The McNeese guard finished with 18 points, eight boards, five assists, and two steals in the win.
UP NEXT: The McNeese Cowboys will travel and return to action on December 29th to play the Michigan Wolverines. Louisiana will head to Texas on December 22nd to take on the Rice Owls. The tip-off for that game will be at 7:00 p.m.