Maybe that’s why they are called the Bayou Bandits.

McNeese stole a basketball game Monday night in front of 3,216 witnesses inside the Legacy Center.

And it was the masked Cowboy who finished the heist.

Javohn Garcia, forced to wear a mask to protect his broken nose, hit the game-winning jumper with 37 seconds left, and then McNeese survived a late scare by less than a second to beat Incarnate Word 67-65. 

“It was not easy,” said Garcia. “We just figured out a way to win.”

Barely.

The Cardinals had a chance to win or tie in the final seconds when Jordan Pyke fired a three, missed, but raced to the rebound and hit a follow to tie the game.

However, officials reviewed the last shot, and the replay showed Pyke still had the ball in his hand as time expired. They reversed the call, and instead of doing overtime, McNeese had its victory.

“It’s a win, which is great,” said Wade. “We made just enough winning plays. I thought we played desperate at the end.”

The victory came 48 hours after the Cowboys’ first loss in Southland Conference play at Nicholls.

“It was huge for us to get back and win,” said forward Joe Charles. “It was a tough game. We had to play angry. I like us when we are angry.”

McNeese improved to 17-6 overall and 11-1 in league play with the win. They now have a three-game lead on the field after Lamar fell to Southeastern Monday. UIW dropped 11-12, 4-8.

Charles had two huge rebounds down the stretch, finishing with seven to go along with his six points. His first came after Garcia missed a free throw with McNeese trailing 65-64. 

Charles got the rebound to Garcia, who hit the game-winner. The second one came after UIW’s Jalin Anderson followed Garcia’s shot with a miss with 10 seconds left. 

Again, he got the ball to Garcia, who was fouled and made one of two free throws, setting up Pyke’s final shots.

“I just want to do what the team needed me to do,” said Charles. “That time, it was to rebound.”

Garcia led McNeese with 13 points despite being in foul trouble most of the night. Christian Shumate finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, just missing a double-double.

Anderson had 15 to lead UIW, with Pyke and Davion Bailey adding 14 each.

McNeese won despite making just 3 of 8 free throws in the final six minutes and being outscored 18-6 from long range. Over the last two games, the Cowboys have made just 2 of 23 3-point shots and have been outscored 51-6 from behind the arc.

The Cowboys were down 63-58 when Bailey hit a jumper with 3:35 remaining, but they turned up the defense and scored nine of the game’s last 11 points.

“Sometimes you need adversity to make a team grow,” said Garcia. “We just have to keep finding ways to win.”

McNeese started fast and led 24-17 with 7:07 left in the first half when Quadir Copeland hit a short shot in the lane. Copeland finished with eight points and seven assists, but sophomore T’Johnn Brown played the point down the stretch for the Cowboys.

“I thought TJ gave us our best chance to win,” Wade said. “I’m in the winning business, not the making friends business.”

Back-to-back threes by Anderson fueled a 10-2 UIW run as the Cardinals ended the half up 33-30. 

Besides Lamar, Nicholls and Southeastern are also 8-4 in the league, three games behind McNeese. 

The Cowboys will stay home this weekend for a 4 p.m. game against Northwestern State. McNeese beat the Demons 92-69 in their first meeting in Natchitoches.