One thing we have learned from the start of this basketball season is you don’t want to give the Cowboys a second chance.

If you do, they generally make you pay dearly for it.

Christian Shumate missed a pair of free throws late last Monday night, but when given a second chance he made the most of it, scoring the winning basket on a second-chance offensive rebound with .3 seconds remaining.

The final seconds of McNeese State’s win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi said all you need to know about the makeup of this group. Rallying from 18 down in the second half, the second-largest comeback in program history, proved their head coach right all along.

After the Cowboys rallied in December to beat Louisiana-Lafayette, Will Wade proclaimed: “If you are going to run us over, you better kick it back in reverse and roll over us again.”

This club is all about redemption, from a head coach who is looking for a second chance after being fired by LSU to a group of transfers who were searching for a place to flourish after struggles elsewhere.

“That is what makes our team so special,” said DJ Richards. “I feel we have a lot of players who have been overlooked. We have a lot to prove.

“We have all been slept on.”

Overlooked, underplayed or maybe just underappreciated, these Cowboys have come together to win 17 of their first 19 games as a unit, turning a dormant program around in the space of months.

“This is like our dream,” said Richards. “Now we just want more.”

Richards is a transfer from Texas-San Antonino. The sophomore started 25 games last season and averaged 10.4 points, but he wanted more. Now he is part of something that could be special.

“We want to be the team people are chasing history against,” said Richards. “We want to be remembered.”

Each player has a unique story with several actually being two-time transfers. There’s center Antavion Collum, who admitted he came to McNeese “to play for Will Wade.”

Collum came from California State-Bakersfield after starting in the SEC.

There is C.J. Felder, who previously played at Boston College and Florida but came to McNeese for peace of mind and to finish his basketball career after some mental health issues cut short last season with the Gators.

“Now I know how to handle situations, a lot of things happened to me,” said Felder. “I think I can help others and give some advice to help them. One of my goals now is to leave a legacy and help as many people as I can.”

Shahada Wells came to McNeese for his final season just to prove to himself how good he was. He got caught in a numbers game at TCU and saw limited playing time.

The guard is now the second-leading scorer in the Southland Conference and the leader of the Cowboys on and off the court.

“I just wanted to find out what I could do if given the chance,” said Wells earlier this year. “All you ever want is a chance to play.”

Wells had made the most of his chance to play. He has already been named the Player of the Week for Louisiana, the Southland Conference and a pair of national publications twice this season.

Even Shumate, a transfer from Tulsa, returned to the Cowboys after entering the transfer portal. Now he again leads the league in rebounding and seems to be having much more fun winning.

There are others, like Mike Saunders and Omar Cooper, both of whom are just starting to find their games. Yet no one has ever redeemed themselves more than Wade, who was out of the college game last season following a well documented recruiting scandal.

Upon his arrival in town, Wade talked about redemption.

“This program needs a rebirth; my career needs a rebirth,” Wade said last April. “This is perfect for us to come together.”

Wade even admits this season and latest comeback are very similar.

“There are some parallels for sure,” he said. “We have a lot of guys with chips on their shoulders.”

Now the Cowboys are cashing those chips in.