The McNeese Cowboys men’s basketball team fell 72-64 to the #2 Alabama Crimson Tide on Monday night in Tuscaloosa. The Cowboys made a good comeback attempt, but were held off by the Tide.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Cowboys came out with a plan, and executed well in the early portion of the game. A 10-6 run to start helped the Cowboys get out to a 12-7 lead after the first five minutes of play.
The Tide would respond, and they did so with a 13-2 run. That gave them a 20-14 lead, once that they would not relinquish for the rest of the half. They used multiple three point shots to extend the lead further near the end of the half, and got it to an 11-point lead at 41-30 at the break.
Grant Nelson led Alabama with 16 points at the break, while Alyn Breed was the only Cowboys in double figures with 10.
The Tide continued their offensive attack early in the second half. Back-to-back threes from Latrell Wrightsell Jr extended the lead out, and it got up to 17 at 51-34 before Will Wade was forced to use a timeout.
The lead would linger around that amount for a while, but McNeese started to make a charge near the 14 minute mark. A 9-0 run got the lead down to 12 at 57-45 at the under 12 minute media timeout.
A Christian Shumate put back dunk with inside of nine minutes left got the lead down to 58-50 and made it the first single-digit deficit since inside of three minutes left in the first half. The Cowboys kept the pressure on, and a Sincere Parker three cut it to 60-54 with less than six minutes left.
Alabama went more than nine minutes without a field goal at one point in the second half, but they found a way to get to the foul line and score enough to hold off the Cowboy charge. They held on to win 72-64.
BIG NUMBER: 35
Despite the loss, McNeese pulled down 35 rebounds and outdid Alabama on the glass by one. It was a competitive battle on the boards all night.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Grant Nelson
The Alabama big man paced the way with 20 points and seven rebounds. He was difficult to stop and helped the Tide get this hard-fought win.
UP NEXT: McNeese will return home to face North Texas inside the Legacy Center on Monday, November 18th at 6:00 PM.
