Shumate’s 32 points help lift Cowboys to dramatic overtime win over UIW

LAKE CHARLES – Christian Shumate’s dunk with 5.5 seconds to play in overtime lifted McNeese to a dramatic 78-76 overtime win over Incarnate Word in Southland Conference action on Thursday night and handing the Cowboys their third consecutive victory.

Shumate ended the night scoring a career-high 32 points behind 11 of 17 shooting and 10 of 12 at the free throw line. He played just over 44 minutes in the 45-minute contest.

The win improved the Cowboys’ record to 8-19 overall and 5-9 in league play while UIW fell to 11-16 and 5-9. McNeese is now in a four-way tie for sixth place in the conference standings with HCU and Lamar.

Zach Scott added 17 points for the Cowboys while Trae English scored 15. Johnathan Massie led the team with three assists but his pass to Shumate for the game-winning dunk with seconds remaining was the biggest of his season.

UIW’s Trey Miller led his team with 19 points and tied the game at 76-76 on two made free throws with 45 seconds to play in overtime. A Cowboy turnover with 38 seconds remaining gave UIW the ball and a chance to go ahead, but Jonathan Cisse’s layup rolled off the rim and Shumate corralled his 10th rebound of the game and pushed the ball up the floor where he connected with Massie who in turn fed Shumate for the winning dunk.

Cisse, who added 18 points for UIW, fired up a three-pointer that fell of the mark as time expired.

UIW jumped out to an 11-point lead in the first half, leading 29-18 with 5:18 to play. McNeese, with Shumate leading the charge, got the offense going and rolled off 12 straight points to grab a 30-29 lead with 1:48 to play. Shumate scored eight of the 12 points during the run.

With it tied 34-34, Cisse hit a layup to give the Cardinals a 36-34 halftime lead.

In the second half, McNeese led most of the way but never by more than five points. The lead switched hands three times and the game was tied four times in the final five minutes of regulation.

McNeese led 69-67 after a Scott layup with 47 seconds to play but the Cardinals tied the game on two Miller free throws with 21 ticks left. The Cowboys put the ball in play and English found an open Scott for the game-winning three at the buzzer but it was an inch short as it hit off the front of the rim and the game was sent to overtime.

The Cowboys shot 50 percent for the game, hitting 25 of 50 shots but only made 2 of 11 from three-point range. McNeese was excellent at the foul line, making 26 of 31 for 84 percent. UIW shot 46 percent for the game (26-57) and made 4 of 13 from behind the arc for 31 percent. The Cardinals were 20 of 27 at the free throw line for 74 percent.

McNeese will return to action on Saturday when it hosts Texas A&M-Corpus Christi who was a 78-74 winner at Nicholls on Thursday night. The Islanders are tied with Northwestern State atop the conference standings at 11-3 and are 18-9 overall.