LAKE CHARLES — The McNeese Cowboys remained perfect in the Southland Conference with a hard-fought 75-64 victory over rival Lamar on Saturday afternoon in the Legacy Center.
Will Wade’s squad remains atop the SLC standing with a 7-0 record in league play.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Lamar struck first as Alexis Marmolejos drained a three-pointer, but it was quickly answered as McNeese’s Javohn Garcia hit a three of his own, sparking a 9-0 run for the Cowboys.
McNeese could not pull away from Lamar as the Cardinals clawed back in and tied the game 13-13 with a Ja’sean Jackson three-pointer.
The Cowboys increased their lead to seven with a DJ Richards three-pointer, but the Cardinals cut the lead to two points with an Errol White layup with 6:07 left in the first half.
McNeese responded with a Quadir Copeland layup and then a three by Brandon Murray. After a Sincere Parker made one of two free throws, the Cowboys held a 28-20 lead with 4:06 left in the first half.
At the break, McNeese held a 35-24 lead.
McNeese suffered a blow as Joe Charles hurt his ankle within the first 22 seconds of the half, and had to be taken to the locker room. Charles briefly came back into the game with less than 13 minutes remaining but was pulled again.
With one of their starters out of the game, McNeese answered the bell and did so as Copeland, Garcia, and Richard all drained three-pointers. In the first four minutes of the second half, the Cowboys had pushed their lead up to 14.
Lamar managed to trim the lead down to single digits twice in the next three-plus minutes but every time McNeese responded. The Cardinals kept fighting and a layup by Marmolejos made it 54-45 with 10:05 left in the half.
Things got interesting when McNeese’s T’john Brown was called for a foul. Despite a replay on the board showing that Brown didn’t touch Marmolejos and that it appeared to be a flop. Officials though ruled that the play would stand.
Lamar’s Jackson then made a second-chance jumper cut the lead down to seven points. McNeese answered with a layup by Christian Schumate but Lamar came back down with a layup by Andrew Holifield to keep it a seven-point deficit.
Lamar proceeded to make it a five-point deficit but then McNeese went on a run. Schumate made a free throw, then a step-back jumper, and a second-chance layup. That pushed the lead back up to 10 points and then Richards hit another three-pointer to make it a 64-51 advantage for the Cowboys.
McNeese would keep Lamar at bay for the remainder of the half to pick up their seventh consecutive win to star SLC play.
BIG NUMBER: 7
For the seventh straight game — all in Southland Conference play — McNeese has scored at least 75 points.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME: DJ RICHARDS & CHRISTIAN SCHUMATE
Richards paced the Cowboys with 19 points on 5-of-10 shooting including draining five three-pointers. After being held scoreless on one shot in the first half, Schumate scored all 10 of his points in the second half as he helped the Cowboys close out the Cardinals.
UP NEXT: McNeese (13-5, 7-0 SLC) will return to action on Monday when it hosts Stephen F. Austin inside the Legacy Center. Tip is scheduled for 3 p.m.
