McNeese State Wins Sixth Southland Conference Title with 92-74
McNeese State 92, Lamar 74
McNeese State won its sixth Southland Conference basketball championship Saturday with a 92-74 victory over Lamar.
The win assured the Cowboys, now 19-10 overall and 11-5 in Southland play, of the top seed heading into the 2011 State Farm Southland Conference Basketball Tournament, which begins Wednesday at the Leonard E. Merrell Center in Katy, Texas.
Also, the victory guarantees McNeese a postseason appearance, either in the NCAA if it wins the league tournament or the NIT should it not.
"This was the goal that we have strived for since the season began," Simmons said. "I'm so happy for our seniors. The last three years haven't been good for them and we could have folded our tents. But, they hung in there and their determination in winning a league championship was evident here today.
"This championship is a credit to those five seniors."
Cowboys playing in their final game on the home court were Diego Kapelan, P.J. Alawoya, C.J. Collins, Preston David and Stephan Martin.
All five pulled their weight in the contest which was viewed by 3,704 spectators, the most to watch a Cowboy game in Burton Coliseum since 4,000 saw these same two teams play in the 2002-03 season.
Alawoya had his 13th double-double of the season as he scored a game high 20 points and pulled 16 rebounds while Collins scored 19 points, had four assists and four steals, Kapelan, playing with a touch of the flu, scored 10 points, Martin came off the bench to score 13 points and David scored six points, had four rebounds and a blocked shot.
It wasn't easy going the entire game for the Cowboys even though they did lead all the way. Lamar, which concluded its year at 13-17 and 7-9, had to win the game to get into the post season tournament.
McNeese got off quickly and was up by 12 points only six minutes into the contest at 23-11. The Cowboys went on to hold a 48-40 halftime lead with Collins having scored 10 points and Alawoya, Patrick Richard and Martin nine each.
In the second half, the Cardinals managed to cut the lead to four points at 54-50 with 14:44 left but the Cowboys wouldn't allow them any closer.
Richard was the fifth double figure scorer for the Cowboys in the game, getting 19 points.
Lamar had four in double figures with Devon Lamb leading the way with 18 and he also had 12 rebounds. Coy Custer with 11 points, Anthony Miles with 11 points and Orlando Brazier with 10 points were others.
Neither team had a particular outstanding night shooting the basketball but the Cowboys did overcome a poor free throw shooting night of last Wednesday to make 25 of 30 attempts for an 83.3 percentage.
McNeese also produced seven three pointers which enabled the team to set a school record. This year's squad has now made 197 three point goals, snapping the record of 194 that was posted by the team of 1991-92.
Lamar, which was only one field goal shy of the Cowboys, was only 11 of 21 from the free throw line. The Cardinals did outrebound McNeese but by only one, 45-44.
Earlier in the afternoon the McNeese Cowgirls beat Lamar to win the league's women's title, the first time in the history of the Southland Conference that the men's and women's teams from the same school have won regular-season titles in the same year.
The Cowgirls have also qualified for at least an appearance in the NIT should they not win the tournament, whose champion gets a berth in the NCAA.
Northwestern State 70, Stephen F. Austin 65
NATCHITOCHES, La. - Falling behind after halftime is just what kicks Northwestern State into gear.
For the seventh time in 10 Southland Conference victories this season, the Demons came from behind in the second half to win, posting a 70-65 triumph over visiting Stephen F. Austin in the last regular season game for both teams. It was the sixth consecutive Northwestern win decided in the final 30 seconds, to the delight of a Prather Coliseum crowd of 1,533.
Northwestern (18-13 overall, 10-6 in the Southland) got 20 points from Devon Baker and overcame a 5-point deficit with 11:52 remaining, holding on to a precarious lead in the final five minutes. SFA (18-10, 9-7) drew within one point three times down the stretch, including down to the final 23 seconds, and wasn't beaten until a steal by Demon freshman Patrick Robinson with four seconds left, leading to a pair of Robinson free throws a second later to ice the outcome with the final five-point margin.
That was the last of several key defensive plays in the last half-minute that swung the outcome to Northwestern by Louis Ellis, Dominic Knight and Robison. With Northwestern guarding a 66-65 advantage, Ellis snuck in from behind and blocked an 8-foot baseline jump shot by 17-point scorer Jereal Scott with 26 seconds to go. Three seconds later, Shamir Davis sank the second of a two-shot free throw chance with 23 seconds showing, edging the Demons up 67-65. Knight forced a traveling call at midcourt with 16 seconds left. Devon Baker was quickly fouled on the inbounds and made the second of a two-shot opportunity with 0:13 showing.
Down 68-65, SFA struggled upcourt against the Demons' defensive pressure, and Robinson made the steal off a deflection of a pass into the key. It was the ninth swipe of the game, right on Northwestern's 9.3 steals average that ranks the Demons seventh nationally.
The outcome earned Northwestern either the No. 2 or 3 seed in next week's State Farm Southland Conference Basketball Tournament, starting for the men Wednesday with quarterfinals in Katy, Texas. The Demons earned the second seed after Sam Houston defeated visiting Texas State.
The Demons got scoring from nine players, with Will Pratt adding 11 points while limited to 19 minutes because of foul trouble. Northwestern's William Mosley, the leading shot blocker in the country, matched his average with five rejections while also hindered by foul trouble.
SFA picked up 17 apiece from Jereal Scott and Antonio Bostic, with Jordan Glynn scoring 13 and Darius Gardner 10. The Lumberjacks pounded the Demons on the boards, posting a 43-31 advantage as Eddie Williams had 11 and Glynn 10.
But Northwestern forced 17 SFA turnovers while making only 12 itself, and the Demons enhanced their national lead in team blocked shots per game by swatting away 8, better than their 7.1 average that tops the second-place 6.5 by Syracuse. Ellis had two blocks and senior guard Logan McConathy added another, only his second of the year and fifth of his career.
The Demons sank 47 percent of their shots against a team allowing only 41 percent aim and rang up 70 points against the nation's No. 1 scoring defense (56.0 average allowed). It was the most points allowed in regulation play by SFA this season, equaling 70 by Texas Tech in the third game of the year.
Sam Houston State 68, Texas State 52
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Seniors Lance Pevehouse, Gilberto Clavell and Josten Crow led Sam Houston to a 68-52 victory over Texas State Saturday at Johnson Coliseum, preventing the Bobcats from earning a share of the Southland Conference title, which was won by McNeese State.
Pevehouse hit 7-of-10 three-point baskets and scored 25 points. Clavell added 13 points and eight rebounds. Crow scored seven points and 10 points.
Texas State (15-15, 10-6 Southland) was led by Ryan White with 15 points.
Sam Houston (17-12, 10-6 Southland) led from the four minute mark of the first half on. The Bearkats built a 32-22 lead at intermission.
As a result of the victory and other results around the league Saturday, Sam Houston will be the No. 3 seed in the 2011 State Farm Southland Conference Men's Basketball Tournament in Katy next week. The Bearkats will take on the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks.
Southeastern Louisiana 50, Nicholls 43
HAMMOND, La. - Brandon Fortenberry scored 14 points and Southeastern Louisiana held Nicholls to 36 percent shooting as the Lions claimed a 50-43 win in the regular-season finale for both teams Saturday at the University Center.
Jason Marks and Jeremy Campbell added seven points each as Southeastern (15-13, 9-7 Southland) clinched its seventh winning season in the last eight years. On Wednesday, the Lions clinched a berth in the 2011 State Farm Southland Conference Basketball Tournament that begins Wednesday in Katy, Texas. It will be the No. 5 seed in the tournament.
Fortenberry and Roosevelt Johnson scored four points each in a 9-0 second half run that helped the Lions pull away from Nicholls (14-13, 8-8 Southland) and claim its 47th win in the 86-game series that began in the 1959-60 season. Fortenberry tipped in a missed Johnson attempt that gave Southeastern a 36-25 lead with 10:48 remaining before Gary Dixon answered a Colonel bucket with a 3-pointer for a 39-27 lead with 10:12 remaining.
Nicholls chipped away at the lead, closing to 41-38 on a pair of free throws by Ben Martin with 5:28 to play, but Southeastern scored the next four points as Fortenberry and Dixon scored on short baskets for a 45-38 lead.
The Colonels opened the game on a 5-0 run as Justin Ayers hit a 3-pointer and layup before Southeastern got on the board on a bucket by Trent Hutchin with 16:41 remaining in the first half. A bucket by Dantrell Thomas, who scored 10 points on 5-for-5 shooting, gave Nicholls State a 12-7 lead before two free throws and a three-point play by Marks tied the game at 12-12 with 8:09 left in the first half.
Consecutive three-point plays by Campbell gave Southeastern a 22-17 lead and the Lions led, 23-21, at the break.
Southeastern limited Anatoly Bose, the Southland Conference's leading scorer (22.2 points), to 15 points on 4-for-17 shooting. The Lions yielded their fewest points of the season while holding Nicholls to its lowest output of the season and nearly 24 points below their season average.
UTSA 68, UT Arlington 63
ARLINGTON, Texas - Senior Devin Gibson, sophomore Melvin Johnson III and freshman Jeromie Hill combined for 54 points and UTSA secured a berth in the 2011 State Farm Southland Conference Basketball Tournament with a come-from-behind 68-63 victory over UT Arlington on Saturday at Texas Hall.
With the win, the Roadrunners improved to 16-13 overall and sealed up the No. 7 seed by finishing the league slate with their second straight 9-7 ledger. UTSA will face No. 2 seed Northwestern State in the first round at noon on Wednesday, March 9. The Mavericks saw their season end at 13-16 and 7-9.
With a postseason bid on the line, UTSA rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to score its first win in Arlington since a 74-71 decision on Feb. 16, 2006, and notch their fourth consecutive trip to the Southland Tournament.
"It was just a complete team effort, and a great one at that, by our guys in the second half," head coach Brooks Thompson said. "We let them go on that big run in the first half and to be down by 10 at the half is tough to look at. But the guys decided they didn't want to go home and they wanted to get Devin back to his hometown one more time."
Johnson III led all players with 21 points, 16 coming in the second half. The Dallas native was 6-for-11 from the floor and a perfect 7-of-7 from the free-throw line in posting his third straight and seventh 20-point game of the season.
Fighting foul trouble all evening, Gibson made sure his senior season was extended by tallying 17 points behind 5-for-8 shooting, four assists and a steal. Hill scored 14 of his 16 points after halftime behind a 4-for-5 night from downtown, and he added a team-high eight rebounds.
UTSA shot 54.2 percent, including 7-for-12 from beyond the arc, made 11-of-13 at the line and committed just three turnovers in the second half.
Johnson, who only played five minutes in the first half after two quick fouls, scored 10 points in a 13-4 run to open the second half, helping UTSA pull within 38-37 at the 16:17 mark. Gibson was whistled for his third foul, but the Roadrunners made six of their seven shots during the stretch, including all four attempts by Johnson III, to overcome the loss of their starting point guard.
After UTA went back out in front by seven, Hill knocked down back-to-back treys - his third and fourth of the half - to make it 48-47 at the 9:01 mark. Junior Sei Paye found the long-distance range on the next possession to give UTSA a 50-48 lead, its first since the eight-minute mark of the first half.
The two teams traded leads six times over the next six minutes until Gibson forced a turnover and then found Paye on the wing for his second 3-pointer to push UTSA's lead to 59-55 with 1:45 remaining.
The Roadrunners forced another turnover and Paye was immediately fouled in the backcourt. He made one of two at the line to push the lead to five, but Richardson answered with a three from the wing to make it 60-58.
Gibson ran down the clock on the next possession and then penetrated into the lane for a turn-around jumper that put UTSA up by four with 44 ticks left.
Darius Richardson, who led UTA with 19 points behind five 3-pointers, misfired from downtown, but Bo Ingram grabbed the offensive board and was fouled. He missed the first free throw and UTA was called for a lane violation on the second, giving the ball back to the Roadrunners with 34.2 seconds left. Gibson was fouled seven seconds later and made both to make it 64-58.
After UTA missed two 3-point attempts, Cameron Catlett finally found the bottom of the net from the wing to make it a one-possession game with 11.1 seconds on the clock. Johnson III received the inbound pass and was immediately hacked. He made both, but Bradley Gay got loose for a layup to answer with two seconds left. Johnson III again was fouled and made a pair to ice the win.
UTSA shot 43.8 percent overall and made 10-of-22 from beyond the 3-point line to help overcome a 40-27 deficit on the glass. The Roadrunners also committed just 10 turnovers in the 61st all-time meeting with the Mavericks.
LaMarcus Reed (14) and Catlett (12) joined Richardson in double figures for UTA, which shot 42.1 percent, but made only 8-of-24 from downtown and 7-of-14 from the charity stripe.
UTSA built an 18-8 lead early in the first half after making six of its first nine shots, but suffered through an eight-minute, 47-second scoring drought that helped the Mavericks take a 19-18 advantage on a three by Richardson. Gibson stopped the dry spell with a free throw, but UTA extended its lead to 29-21 on a Catlett trey, capping a 21-3 run.
The Mavericks eventually extended their lead to 10 (34-24) at the break behind 16 points in the paint and a trio of 3-pointers.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 76, Central Arkansas 69
CONWAY, Ark. - The four-man senior class for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi finished their careers on a two-game win streak as the Islanders knocked off Central Arkansas, 76-69 on Saturday at the Farris Center. Demond Watt scored 20 points in his final collegiate game.
Terence Jones scored 12 points to go with five rebounds and five assists in the win, and Chris Mast added 10 points. The contest was the final collegiate game for seniors Justin Reynolds (six points, seven boards, five blocks), Horace Bond (four points, eight rebounds) and Antonio Topps (nine points, four assists). Tadre Sheppard scored 16 in a losing effort for the Bears.
The Islanders posted a 30-8 run around halftime to turn a 14-point deficit into a seven-point lead. During the rally, the Islanders held the Bears without a field goal over a span of 14:52, as UCA went 0-for-18 during the skid. The Islanders shot 51 percent from the field in the game, the third consecutive game that the team has topped 50 percent shooting.
The Bears jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead behind triples by T.K. Smith and Imad Qahwash. After UCA pushed it to a 13-6 advantage, the Islanders used an 8-2 run to close the deficit to 15-14 on a pair of treys by Jones. Again, though, the Bears responded, putting up a 13-4 rally of their own to repossess a 28-18 lead to force an Islanders timeout at the 9:04 mark.
The run continued to a 32-18 Bears lead until a Reynolds dunk snapped the string. After two Qahwash free throws, the Islanders put up a 7-0 run featuring two buckets from Watt and another Jones trey to make it 34-27. The Islanders added a 9-2 run to tie the score at 36-36, but Jacquan McClinton hit a free throw with five seconds left to send the game to the break with UCA leading 37-36. The Islanders defense held the Bears without a field goal over the last 7:41, forcing seven turnovers and holding them to 0-for-8 shooting.
Halftime did not cool the visitors, as the Islanders put up a 9-1 run out of the locker room to gain their first lead of the game and push it to a 45-38 advantage. Topps had a three and Reynolds and Watt both threw down thunderous dunks in the run. After the Bears finally delivered a field goal, the Islanders continued to push the lead to a game-high 13 at 55-42 as a Jawan Nelson trey capped off the run.
UCA was able to respond with a 14-8 run after Ryan Williams hit three straight buckets to trim the home squad's deficit to just seven at 63-56. The hot shooting continued for the Bears, as they used their pressure defense to score the next five points and trim it to 63-61. But the Islanders were able to put up a 6-0 run with Watt hitting two free throws and a Garland Judkins slam and a Mast layin providing the offense.
The Bears refused to fade, though, continuing to play strong defense and convert their opportunities to trim it to a 72-69 game with 27 seconds to play. Free throws by Jones and Watt pushed it to a 74-69 lead, and after Williams' attempted three rimmed out, the Islanders capped it with two free throws by Mast to finish off the contest.
With back-to-back wins to close the season, the Islanders finish the 2010-11 campaign with an overall record of 10-21 and a conference mark of 5-11.