LAKE CHARLES — The McNeese Cowboys are one win away from their third straight Southland Conference Men’s Tournament Championship and a third consecutive NCAA Tournament berth.
McNeese took down University of Texas Rio Grande Valley 84-80 in triple overtime in Tuesday’s SLC Tournament semifinals held inside Townsley Law Arena.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
UTRGV scored first on a Jaylen Washington layup, but McNeese responded with an alley-oop dunk by Jerrell Colbert. Larry Johnson next drained a three-pointer and then had a tip-in layup to make it 7-2 in favor of the Cowboys.
UTRGV made back-to-back buckets to make it a one-point game, but McNeese answered. Garwey Dual made a driving layup, and then Johnson stole the ball at midcourt and then made a layup to put McNeese back up 11-6.
With about 10 minutes left in the first, McNeese would push its lead to 11 points as Tyshawn Archie, DJ Richards, and Javohn Garcia made back-to-back-to-back layups.
After Archie made a pair of free throws and then moments later a three-pointer, McNeese led by 12 points with 3:30 to go. The Cowboys would not score another field goal the rest of the half as the Vaqueros chipped away at the lead.
At the break, McNeese led 31-23.
McNeese started the second half continuing its cold shooting, and after UTRGV’s Filip Brankovic and Marvin McGhee III hit a pair of threes, the lead was trimmed down to two points.
McNeese pushed its lead back up to five after a Archie three but UTRGV came back with a three by McGhee and Julien Gomez to give the Vaqueros their first lead of the game.
The Cowboys answered as Johnson took over with a free throw, a slam dunk and a layup to give McNeese a four-point lead. UTRGV’s Demarris Winters drained a three to make it a one-point game with 11:22 left in the second half.
Vaqueros retook the lead with a layup by Koree Cotton and a three by McGhee. With 7:58 left in the game, UTRGV led 45-44.
The two teams continued to battle back and forth, and McNeese got a huge shot from Richards, who drained a three-pointer. With 3:07 left in the second half, the Cowboys led 56-53.
UTRGV answered with a three-pointer by McGhee to tie the game.
The two teams would go scoreless for the next two minutes until UTRGV took the lead with a pair of free throws by Cotton. McNeese got the ball, and coach Bill Armstrong called a timeout with 14.6 seconds.
Johnson shot a three-pointer and missed it, but Garwey was there for the putback dunk to tie the game. That left 6.6 seconds left on the clock, but Cotton’s layup was no good.
Garcia gave McNeese the lead to start overtime, but UTRGV made a pair of buckets and a free throw to take a three-point lead. McNeese battled back and then retook the lead on a Richards jumper in the paint. It was during that possession that Archie injured his leg, and was forced to come out of the contest.
A few moments later, UTRGV held a three-point lead, but McNeese tied the game as Johnson hit a three-pointer with 26.8 seconds left. UTRGV was unable to make a shot at the end, and a second overtime was needed.
The second overtime came down to the final 30 seconds. Garcia was fouled by Brankovic, who fouled out of the game, and made his two free throws. That left less than 20 seconds for UTRGV but their shot missed.
Johnson got a steal and dunk to start the third overtime, and then Richards scored on a layup off of another turnover. UTRGV rallied and did so by making their free throws. Johnson came up big again as he made a layup to give McNeese an 82-80 lead. He then got a steal and then slammed it home to bring the crowd to their feet.
BIG NUMBER I: 35
With Tuesday night’s victory, McNeese has now won 35 straight home games against SLC opponents.
BIG NUMBER II: 16
McNeese struggled from the free-throw line all night as the Cowboys shot 16-of-31 from the free-throw line. UTRGV, meanwhile, was far more efficient, 18-of-24.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: LARRY JOHNSON
Johnson led the Cowboys with 27 points, 12 rebounds, seven steals, and came up huge in the final overtime with buckets and the game-sealing steal and layup.
UP NEXT: McNeese (28-5) will take on regular season champion Stephen F. Austin in Wednesday’s SLC Championship Game. Tip from the Townsley Law Arena is set for 4 p.m.