For the first time in over a half-century, the Cowboys have won their first four games of the season.

History was made with relative ease Tuesday night inside the Legacy Center.

McNeese State toppled overmatched LeTourneau 81-49 for the program’s first 4-0 start since 1972 when Richard Nixon was still in his first term as president.

“Any time you get to make history it is great,” said McNeese guard Omar Cooper. “It’s not every day you can do something that hasn’t been done in 50 years.

“We knew what was on the line.”

Cooper came off the bench to score 14 points and hand out five assists for the Cowboys. As a team, McNeese assisted on half of their 32 made field goals and turned the ball over just nine times.

“We didn’t play up to our abilities, and we still have a lot to work on,” said Cooper. “But we were able to do what we needed to do.”

The loss was the first for LeTourneau in three games.

DJ Richards led McNeese with 15 points while Shahada Wells and Christian Shumate each had 11. Shumate also had 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season and 23rd in his career despite suffering from the flu.

Richards became the fourth Cowboy to lead the team in scoring over the first four games. Also showing the Pokes’ depth, 10 of 11 players scored.

“Every player on our team has value,” said Cooper, who led the club in time on the floor at 29:55. “There isn’t one player on that bench that can’t help us win a game.”

Walker Blaine was the only LeTourneau player to reach double figures with 14.

This wasn’t the early wipeout as expected. Instead, McNeese led just 21-19 with 8:47 left in the opening half before finding their stride.

Wells and Javohn Garcia (9 points) led McNeese on a 16-0 run that extended the lead to 37-19 and gave the Cowboys back control. 

“I thought we started off a little slow,” said Vernon Hamilton, who was sitting in as head coach Will Wade continues while he rides out his suspension. “We felt we had to go on our run there. You don’t want to let these teams hang around.”

It was McNeese’s third game in five days, all at home against non-division 1 opponents.

The Cowboys won those three games by a combined margin of 137 points.

McNeese led 44-27 at break and scored the first five points of the second half to ice the game for good.

The Cowboys will step up in competition Saturday when they hit the road to play fellow mid-major Western Carolina, which beat Notre Dame last weekend. That starts a stretch of six mid-major opponents over their next seven games.

“We are excited for that,” said Hamilton. “We get up to play those opponents. It is an opportunity for us to make a name for ourselves in college basketball.”

After the run of mid-majors, McNeese will close out the nonconference part of the season, and the year, with a game at Michigan.