LAKE CHARLES, La. — First-seeded McNeese charged fourth-seeded Lamar from the jump, moving past the Cardinals 76-57 in Tuesday evening’s semifinal matchup in the 2024 Jersey Mike’s Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament presented by Explore Louisiana.
The Cowboys (29-3) advance to their first SLC title game since 2012, seeking their first tournament championship since the 2002 season. The Cardinals finish the season 19-14.
Shahada Wells shined with 27 points on nine-of-19 shooting with five assists and four steals. Javohn Garcia had 12 points on five of nine shooting while Christian Shumate scored 11 points on five-of-eight shooting.
Terry Anderson tallied 16 points on five-of-10 shooting and Ja’Sean Jackson had 11 points for Lamar, hitting three-of-eight from behind the three-point line.
Shumate set the tone for the Cowboys with two dunks on consecutive possessions to start the game, accounting for six of the team’s first eight points.
Antavion McCollum maneuvered a circus shot into the net at 15:28 and the Cowboys galloped to a 10-4 lead.
Wells opened his scoring with a layup at 14:50, beginning a 15-5 run for the Cowboys who led 25-9 at 7:57 in the first half.
"Our big guys set the tone in the first half on the glass,” McNeese head coach Will Wade said. “We bludgeoned them in the paint which was huge.”
20 of the first 25 McNeese points came inside the paint and the one seed gathered 46 points from that distance through the full 40 minutes.
Jackson jolted the Cardinals’ offense with threes on back-to-back possessions, bringing the four seed within a 27-18 margin at 4:49.
Shumate’s putback layup at 4:26 moved the edge to 29-18 and McNeese would possess a double-digit advantage the rest of the way.
Wells drilled a step-back three at 2:47 and a pair of Garcia free throws on the following possession gave the Cowboys their largest lead of the half at 38-21.
The SLC regular season champions led 39-24 at halftime.
Lamar had small increments of momentum in the second half but McNeese countered at each turn.
Another Shumate dunk debuted the Cowboys offense in the second half before Chris Pryor knocked down a three, cutting the deficit to a 41-29 mark.
But Wells had another response, carving through the Lamar defense for another layup. The veteran guard scored 15 in the final 20 minutes.
"I saw openings in the defense and just took it,” Wells said. “My teammates believe in me and I believe in them.”
The Cardinals dealt their strongest blows with the three ball. Cody Pennebaker connected from distance at 9:26, bringing the game to an 11-point difference.
However, DJ Richards matched that triple and Wells followed with a steal and a score, lifting McNeese to a 61-45 lead at 8:37.
The Cowboys capitalized on 17 Lamar turnovers, converting those miscues into 16 points.
"The one thing we could not afford to do was have live-ball turnovers,” Lamar head coach Alvin Brooks said. “We weren’t able to stop their runs with the live-ball turnovers we had.”
Garcia scored a layup at 3:36 and a pair of Mike Saunders Jr. free throws ballooned the McNeese to its widest margin of the night at 73-51.
CJ Felder threw down a dunk at 1:03, polishing off the Cowboys victory.
One seeds now hold a 36-7 record in SLC semifinal contests. McNeese will face the winner of the second SLC semifinal between two-seeded A&M Corpus Christi and third-seeded Nicholls in Wednesday’s championship game at 4 p.m. on ESPN 2.
The winner of that contest will clinch an automatic bid to the 2024 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament.
"I really want it for our school, our community. I want it mostly for our players,” Wade said. “I want those guys to experience that more than anything.”