Garcia, Wells lift McNeese past SLU, 74-65

LAKE CHARLES – Javohn Garcia scored a season-high 22 points and Shahada Wells chipped in with 20 as the duo combined to connect on 14 of 24 shots (6-for-9 from three-point range) and all eight free throws to lead McNeese to a 74-65 win over Southeastern Louisiana in Southland Conference action on Saturday in front of a Legacy Center sellout crowd of 4,200.

Christian Shumate added 12 points and 11 rebounds for his fifth double-double on the season, and with his 11 boards, became just the eighth player in McNeese Basketball history to score 1,000 points and grab 700 rebounds in a career.

The win was the ninth-straight for the Cowboys, the longest since winning 14-in-a-row in the 2001-02 NCAA Tournament season, while extending the nation’s seventh-long current streak. McNeese is 14-2 for the first time in 50 years and is 3-0 in league play for the first time since the 2010-11 season, the last time McNeese won the Southland title.

Southeastern, the preseason favorite to win the conference, dropped to 6-10 overall and 1-2 in the league while suffering its second-straight loss.

The Cowboys got out to a torrid start in front of their second-straight sellout crowd, building a 20-4 lead through the first six minutes as Garcia sank three of his four treys during that time. Southeastern was able to battle to close the gap to 10 points the rest of the half, but the Cowboys were able to maintain the double-digit lead and ended the final 1:10 with baskets from Garcia and Shumate, the latter coming off a phenomenal Wells save under the basket where he tossed a loss ball behind his back to Shumate, who laid it in and drew the foul to put the Cowboys on top 44-30 heading into the half.

The hot shooting in the first half (17 of 27 for 63%) was subdued in the second half as the Lions played a more physical game and held McNeese to just 9 of 27 shooting (33%) in the second half.

SLU found the hot hand in the second half, especially from long range where it knocked down 7 of 17 shots and was able to pull to within 55-53 following a Woodard 3-pointer at the 8:38 mark. Woodard led the Lions with 20 points and scored 18 of those off six three-pointers. His 3 at that time helped SLU put together a 16-4 run but Garcia put an end to it with his fourth trey on the night with 7:19 on the clock.

Woodard later made two free throws to close the gap once again at 58-55 with 6:07 remaining, but Wells came up with big with an offensive rebound, put-back layup, and free throw to complete a 3-point play and extend the lead to 61-55 at the 5:41 mark.

Cam Jones added a couple of free throws nearly two minutes later to build the lead to 63-55 but Woodard’s sixth three-pointer on the night with 2:21 to play pulled the Lions to within 67-62.

Wells followed with another driving layup, drawing a foul, and sinking a free throw to put McNeese up 70-62 with 1:15 to play, then after Woodard fouled out with 46 seconds to play, Garcia followed with four straight makes at the line to secure the win.

Next up, McNeese will host Lamar in the first Battle of the Border matchup on Monday night at 7 p.m. Lamar defeated Nicholls in overtime on Saturday to improve to 3-0 in conference play. Monday’s game will feature the only two remaining unbeaten conference teams.

POSTGAME NOTES:

• McNeese played in front of a sellout crowd for the second straight home game.

• McNeese is 8-0 at home this season; the 8 wins is a Legacy Center record.

• Wells’ 20-point game marks the 7th 20-plus point game this season and 14th in his career.

• Garcia’s 22-point outing is a season-high and just one off his career-high of 23 that he scored against Northeastern while at UMass.

• With his 11 rebounds, Shumate has now grabbed 702 in his career and his 11 points gives him 1,103, making him only the 8th player in school history to join the 1,000/700 club.

• Shumate’s 1,103 career points also moves him past John Ford for 29th on the school’s all-time scoring list.

• McNeese has a 9-game winning streak, its longest since the 2001-02 season when that team won 14-straight on its way to the NCAA Tournament.

• The Cowboys never trailed in the game, leading for 39:47 while 13 seconds were spent tied.

• McNeese held a 32-30 advantage in rebounds and outscored the much bigger Lions, 28-18, in the paint.

• Head coach Will Wade improves his record to 6-0 at McNeese and 202-96 overall.

• It’s the second time in his 10-year career he has won the first six games of the season, the other came when he was at LSU in 2021-22 where he led the Tigers to 12-straight wins before suffering a loss.