Collum powers Pokes to 96-55 win
Published 6:41 pm Friday, November 10, 2023
- The McNeese State band performs during a break in action in Monday's Southland Conference men's basketball tournament game between McNeese and Nicholls State at the Legacy Center. (Rodrick Anderson / American Press)
At 6-foot-9 and 245 pounds, Antavion Collum is hard to miss on the floor, yet he has been overlooked when it comes to the Cowboys.
With all the talk of the new and improved talent on the roster, Collum is seen by many as a cog in the system.
Friday afternoon he made sure his presence was felt inside the Legacy Center.
Collum scored 26 points and pulled down eight rebounds as McNeese State rolled to an easy 96-55 victory over the College of Biblical Studies in the home opener.
The victory gives McNeese its first 2-0 start since 2006 while the Ambassadors fell to 4-2.
“It was a good game but we could have locked in more,” said Collum, a grad transfer from Cal State-Bakersfield. “We can be better.”
With head coach Will Wade sitting out the second of his 10-game suspension, Vernon Hamilton led the Cowboys. It was Hamilton’s first time serving as a head coach.
“It’s a great feeling to get a win in your first opportunity to coach,” said Hamilton. “Not happy with how we played at times. These games can be tough after a big win.”
McNeese opened the season with a victory at Virginia Commonwealth, but that was no excuse to the players.
“We can be better in all areas,” said forward Roberts Berze, who had 11 points while knocking down 3-of-5 3-point shots. “They lapsed in on Collum so the outside shot was there.”
Ten of the 11 Cowboys who played scored in the rout as McNeese hit on 13-of-31 3-pointers. Even Collum hit 2-of-3 from long range.
“I can do this every night,” said Collum. “We wanted to score more points in the paint in this game. This just happened to be a game for the bigs.”
Nobody was bigger than Collum who finished 11-of-14 from the floor.
McNeese ended with 50 points in the paint and 30 off 26 CBS turnovers. The Cowboys also had 22 assists on 39 field goals.
“It is fun for everyone when you share the ball,” said Berze.
Corey Nickerson led the Ambassadors with 18 points.
Behind Collum McNeese jumped out to a 34-17 lead 12 minutes into the game and never were challenged. The Pokes led 55-32 at the break and outscored CBS 43-23 in the second half.
“There’s a lot of stuff he (Collum) does that doesn’t show up on the stats sheet,” said Hamilton. “I’m happy we got to see his offense.”
Five Cowboys scored in double figures with Shahada Wells finishing with 12 while Cameron Jones and Javohn Garcia each had 10. Christian Shumate ended the night with seven points and seven rebounds.
McNeese will be back in the Legacy Center both Monday and Tuesday nights against more non-Division I competition. The Pokes will take on Champion Christain on Monday and LeTourneau the following night.
Both games tipoff at 7 p.m.
