After resting for the first few rounds of the Jersey Mike’s Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament, the McNeese Cowboys geared up for a semifinal matchup versus the Northwestern State Demons. McNeese had a strong first half, heading into the locker room with a 17-point lead. The Demons stormed back, but it wasn’t enough as the Cowboys moved on to the championship round with a 78-64 win.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
McNeese was aggressive early, jumping out to an 8-2 lead as Quadir Copeland drove to the rim for a couple of layups. One of the buckets turned into a three-point play after the junior guard was fouled on his way to the hoop. DJ Richards began the run with a three-pointer that Copeland assisted.
Northwestern’s Micah Thomas cut into the lead with a shot from downtown, but McNeese responded with a big 16-2 run. Christian Shumate began the run with a two-hand slam, and Brandon Murray cut into the lane for a layup. Richards, Javohn Garcia, and Murray followed that up by combining to knock down four three-pointers to give the Cowboys the 24-7 lead with 12:16 left in the first half.
After a free throw and dunk by Jerald Colonel, Garcia began to take over for McNeese. The senior guard blocked a Demon shot attempt from behind and scored twice. Garcia was fouled on one of his shot attempts and converted on the and-one opportunity.
The Demons cut it to a 10-point game with a couple of shots from behind the arc by Jon Sanders II and a Willie Williams layup with less than six minutes to go before the break.
McNeese outscored Northwestern State 13-6 over the final handful of minutes as five Cowboys scored, including a layup by Garcia with 26 seconds left. Sanders II answered with a layup as the buzzer sounded. The Pokes went into the locker room with a 42-25 lead.
Northwestern State opened the second half with an 8-0 run as Thomas and Love Bettis scored from downtown less than a minute in. Addison Patterson hit a deep, contested two-point shot to cut it to a single-digit deficit before Richards answered with a three.
That tre ball by McNeese’s junior guard started a flurry of threes over the next few minutes of action. In three minutes, both teams combined to make seven shots from behind the arc. Richards was responsible for two of those baskets and almost had a third, but his foot was on the line when he took the shot in transition. Joe Charles and Garcia also contributed for McNeese while Thomas hit two out of Northwestern’s three three-pointers. Landyn Jumawan made the other for the Demons. After things cooled down, the Cowboys were ahead 56-42.
The Demons cut it to a six-point difference with less than 10 minutes to go as they went on a 12-4 run. Thomas knocked down a pair of midrange jumpers before Colonel scored twice in the paint, including a dunk. The lone bucker for McNeese was a Shuslam at the 10:29 mark.
With about five minutes to go, Garcia tipped Patterson’s pass and secured the steal. That turnover was cashed in by Garcia for a transition layup and forced the Demons to burn a timeout.
It was all McNeese the rest of the way as they outscored Northwestern State 12-5 in the closing minutes. At the final buzzer, Will Wade’s squad was ahead by 19 was secured the 83-64 victory over the Demons to move on to the championship round of the Southland Conference Tournament.
BIG NUMBER: 54
The Cowboys as a team were very efficient from the floor as they finished the game shooting 54 percent. They were shooting 57.9 percent from the three-point line, while the Demons shot 41.1 percent from the floor and 34.6 percent from behind the arc.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Javohn Garcia
Garcia had several clutch and big-time moments for the Cowboys on Tuesday as he finished the game with a game-high 24 points on 8/14 shooting. The senior guard out of Columbus, Ohio, also was 3/4 from the three-point line, had four assists, two blocks, and a steal as McNeese moved on to the Championship round with an 80-64 win over Northwestern State.
UP NEXT: The McNeese Cowboys men’s basketball team will return tomorrow for the Jersey Mike’s Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament championship round. Their opponent will be either the Lamar Cardinals or the Nicholls Colonels. Tipoff from the Legacy Center is TBD.
UP NEXT: The McNeese Cowboys men’s basketball team will wait to return to the hardwood until next season.