McNeese No. 7 seed heading into this week’s Southland tourney

LAKE CHARLES – McNeese will open play in the 2020 Hercules Tires Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament on Wednesday night at 7:30 at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas as the No. 7 seed and will go up against 6th-seeded Lamar.

The Cowboys earned their first trip to the postseason since the 2016 season when they beat Lamar 70-66 on a last-second three-pointer plus a free throw with 0.5 seconds remaining on Saturday night. That win evened McNeese’s league record to 10-10, tying it for sixth place with Lamar and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and with the tie-breaker worked out, Lamar was awarded the No. 6 seed, McNeese the 7 and AMCC No. 8.

The 10 league wins are the most for McNeese since 2012 when it finished 10-6.

Fans looking to purchase tickets can buy them on the Southland Conference website. McNeese students will be admitted free with a valid student I.D.

Reserved tickets are $25 per session which covers two games while general admission is $20 per session. Children 5 and under are admitted free. Wednesday’s session includes the 5 p.m. game between No. 5 Northwestern State and No. 8 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, then the Cowboys vs. Cardinals at 7:30.

If the Cowboys win, they’ll play No. 3 Nicholls at 7:30 on Thursday and the winner of that game gets No. 2 Abilene Christian at 7:30 on Friday. The championship game will tip at 8:30 Saturday night and will broadcast live on ESPN2. All other games will air on ESPN+.

Abilene Christian is the defending tournament champion.

2020 Hercules Tires Southland Conference Basketball Tournament
March 11-15
Merrell Center • Katy, Texas

1st Round • Wednesday, March 11
Game 1 – No. 5 Northwestern State vs. No. 8 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 5 p.m.
Game 2 – No. 6 Lamar vs. No. 7 McNeese, 7:30 p.m.

2nd Round • Thursday, March 12
Game 3 – No. 4 Sam Houston State vs. Game 1 Winner, 5 p.m.
Game 4 – No. 3 Nicholls vs. Game 2 Winner, 7:30 p.m.

Semifinals • Friday, March 13
Game 5 – No. 1 Stephen F. Austin vs. Game 3 Winner, 5 p.m.
Game 6 – No. 2 Abilene Christian vs. Game 4 Winner, 7:30 p.m.

Championship • Saturday, March 14
Game 7 – Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner, 8:30 p.m.