McNeese Men’s Basketball beats Incarnate Word in overtime

Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) - On Thursday the McNeese Cowboys took on the Incarnate Word Cardinals in a game that had a lot of implications for the Southland Conference standings, and for who will make the Southland Conference Tournament in March. Thursday’s game came three weeks after the Cowboys fell to the Cardinals 70-65 in San Antonio when the Cowboys were in the middle of their nine-game losing streak, and on Thursday the game was fairly similar as the two battled and went back and forth.

In the first half, the Cardinals were able to build a solid lead as they led by as many as 11 points twice, the latest being a 29-18 lead with 5:18 remaining in the half, but the Cowboys closed the half on a 16-7 run to cut the lead to just two points going into the second half, as they trailed 36-34.

The second half was then more of the same, McNeese tied the game up about four minutes into the second half as Christian Shumate slammed it home to tie it at 40 with 16:19 remaining in the game, and from that point on it was a battle as the two traded shots with the biggest lead either team held being a five-point McNeese lead. At the end of 40 minutes of regulation, the two were still knotted up at 69 points a piece, and because of it, the two needed an additional five-minute overtime period to determine the winner.

But in overtime, it was more of the same, McNeese opened the overtime period on a 4-0 lead thanks to two Johnathan Massie free throws, and a Trae English layup, but then the Cardinals came back and knotted the game up at 76 with 45 seconds remaining in the game. The Cowboys got the ball back with 10 seconds remaining in overtime, the score still tied at 76, and with six seconds remaining Johnathan Massie found Christian Shumate who slammed home an emphatic dunk for his 31st and 32nd points of the game, to separate the Cowboys from the Cardinals, as McNeese won it 78-76 in overtime, their third consecutive win.

McNeese top-performers:

Christian Shumate: 32 points, 11 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 1 assist
Zach Scott: 17 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals
Trae English: 15 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist

Incarnate Word top-performers:

Trey Miller: 19 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal
Stephon Payne III: 14 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals, 1 assist
Jonathan Cisse: 18 points, 3 assists

With the win, the Cowboys didn’t move up in the Southland Conference Standings, but they did tie other teams above them in the standings.

Southland Conference Standings:

Texas A&M - Corpus Christi Islanders: 11-3 (18-9)
Northwestern State Demons: 11-3 (19-8)
Nicholls colonels: 8-5 (13-12)
Southeastern Lions: 8-6 (14-13)
Texas A&M - Commerce Islanders: 7-6 (11-16)
Lamar Cardinals: 5-9 (9-18)
Houston Christian Huskies: 5-9 (8-19)
Incarnate Word Cardinals: 5-9 (11-16)
McNeese Cowboys: 5-9 (8-19)
New Orleans Privateers: 4-10 (7-18)

The Cowboys will now host Texas A&M - Corpus Christi on Saturday at 3:30 after falling to the Islanders 83-72 on January 28th in Corpus Christi.

Copyright 2023 KPLC. All rights reserved.