The McNeese Cowboys men’s basketball team defeated Illinois State 76-68 and Longwood 84-69 through their first two games of the Paradise Jam Tournament. Those two victories projected Will Wade’s group to the championship game versus the Liberty Flames, a team that beat Louisiana and Kansas State. It was a tough, defensive battle throughout but McNeese couldn’t come back late, losing 62-58 to fall to 4-3 on the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
McNeese’s defense pressured Liberty’s offense, forcing three turnovers on the first three possessions. Christian Shumate was the Poke offense early, scoring the first four points from a driving dunk and turnaround hook shot.
The Flames were red hot from three-point range in the first couple of minutes. Up to the 7:28 mark of the first half, four Liberty players knocked down a three-point shot. The shooting gave the Flames the 22-17 lead to that point.
In the meantime, Sincere Parker seven straight points for McNeese from the left elbow and downtown. The three-pointer was assisted by Joe Charles, who secured the offensive rebound on the possession. Javohn Garcia also made back-to-back shots before Bryan Selebangue hit a midrange jumper as the Cowboys were down by five points.
Parker cut it to one possession with an and-one jumper with less than six minutes to go before the half. Colin Porter saved a sketchy possession by knocking down a right-wing three at the 3:03 mark to give the Flames the five-point advantage. McNeese’s defense locked in the rest of the first half as Liberty missed their last couple of shots and turned the ball over late.
Shumate tied the game by punching it home and made the and-one layup with four seconds to go. The half-court heave by Liberty was no good and it was all knotted up at 29 a piece heading into intermission.
Shumate opened the second half with a layup. Then, Jayvon Maughmer caught fire for the Flames, scoring seven straight points for Liberty and showing his versatility by making a shot from all three levels on Liberty’s first three possessions. Within the scoring from Maughmer, McNeese found themselves giving up a 15-2 run as the Cowboys were on a five-and-a-half-minute scoring drought. Garcia made McNeese’s first bucket since that first make from Shumate.
Liberty went up by as much as 11 midway into the second half as Isaiah Ihnen and Taelon Peter made back-to-back threes. Those made shots prompted a time-out from head coach Will Wade.
McNeese cut it to a three-point game with a 14-6 run as Quadir Copeland scored 10 points in a seven-and-a-half-minute span.
Porter made his fourth three-pointer of the game with 2:32 remaining but Copeland and Brandon Murray knocked down a couple of shots to make it a 57-56 game with a minute to go.
Parker matched Ihnen’s pair of free throws with a Paradise Jam slam to keep it a one-point difference. Another shot from the charity stripe for Liberty made it 60-58 with 11 seconds left. Garcia missed his kiss off the glass and the Flames secured the rebound. Maughmer hit two more free throws to secure the win for Liberty.
McNeese lost 62-58 to drop their record to 4-3 and runner-up in the Virgin Islands Paradise Jam tournament.
BIG NUMBER: 11
Three-point shooting was the big difference in the game as Liberty knocked down 11 of 31 attempts. McNeese wasn’t as successful as Sincere Parker made the team’s lone shot from downtown on 12 attempts.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Colin Porter
The Liberty point guard was the most consistent scorer on Monday evening as he went 4-8 from three-point land, finishing the game with 13 points. Porter also recorded five rebounds and assists in the 6-58 win over McNeese.
UP NEXT: The McNeese Cowboys (4-3) will return home at the beginning of December to host the Santa Clara Broncos. Tipoff in the Legacy Center is set for 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 3rd.
