McNeese beats Northwestern State 68-59 to start league play 2-0

NATCHITOCHES – For just the second time in school history, and the first time in 39 years (1984-85), the McNeese Cowboys have begun Southland Conference basketball action with two road wins after the Bayou Bandits used a stingy defense to beat Northwestern State 68-59 on Monday night.

The win improved the Cowboys’ record to 13-2 overall and 2-0 in league play as it won for the eighth straight time which is the seventh-longest current streak in the NCAA. The win also captured the sixth victory on the road this season, the most since winning six contests in the 2011-12 season, which was also the last time a Cowboys’ team won eight-consecutive games.

The Cowboys led 31-26 at the half after scoring five straight points to end the frame, then scored the first three points in the second half to build an 8-point advantage.

Neither team showed good aim in its shooting in the first half, McNeese making just 12 of 32 while NSU (2-13, 0-2) connected on just 9 of 27, both below 40% from the field.

McNeese’s defense kept the Demons off balance for much of the game, creating 19 turnovers while scoring 21 points off the miscues, then in the second half, held NSU to just five field goals in the final 12 minutes while building a double-digit lead.

Shahada Wells, who led the Cowboys with 18 points and five assists, put McNeese up 58-46 on a driving layup with 7:52 to play to mark the largest lead of the game.

The Demons answered with four straight points and cut the lead to 58-50 after a Justin Wilson dunk with 6:50 on the clock. NSU didn’t made another field goal until a three-pointer by Cliff Davis with 36 seconds to play to cut McNeese’s lead to 63-55.

McNeese sank 5 of 6 from the free throw line in the last 30 seconds to close out the win and finished the game hitting a respectable 68% (17-25) for the game.

Antavion Collum added 12 points for the Cowboys as Javohn Garcia scored 11.

Christian Shumate grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with six points and three blocked shots.

Next Up:
• The Cowboys close out a nearly month-long run of games away from home and will next return to Legacy Center on Saturday when they host Southeastern Louisiana at 4 p.m.
• McNeese hasn’t played at home since December 17 when it defeated ULL 74-72.

Postgame Notes:
• Started Southland Conference play 2-0 with both wins on the road just once before in school history, that coming in the 1984-85 season.
• Started 2-0 in league play for the second straight year and the 15th time in school history.
• Six road wins is the most since winning six in 2011-12.
• 8-game winning streak is the longest since winning 8 in 2011-12.
• With 18 points, Wells has now scored 914 points in his career.
• Shumate’s 10 rebounds gives him 690 his career, just 10 away from 700 and making him only the 8th player in school history with 1,000 points and 700 rebounds.
• The 13-2 record is the best in 50 years when the 1973-74 team started out 17-2.
• Head coach Will Wade is now 5-0 at McNeese and picked up his 201st career win.
• Earlier in the day, McNeese jumped two spots to No. 7 in this week’s CollegeInsider Mid-Major Top 25 poll.