Demons help Cowboys get into tourney

Published 5:00 pm Sunday, March 7, 2021

Jim Gazzolo, Special to the American Press

Nothing like getting a little help from your friends.

Thanks to Northwestern State’s win over Central Arkansas earlier Saturday, McNeese State was in the Southland Conference Tournament even before it tipped off.

Whether the Cowboys would crash their way in through the front door or sneak in the back was the only question when they hosted Lamar at Burton Coliseum.

Back door it is.

Lamar rolled to a 60-51 win over McNeese to sweep the season series as both teams head to Katy, Texas, on Tuesday. Official brackets are not expected out until today, though the clubs are not likely to meet in the first round like last year.

The Cardinals (8-17, 6-10 SLC) are 4-1 against McNeese over the last two seasons.

“I hope we play anybody but them just to play somebody new,” said McNeese head coach Heath Schroyer, and that was before the game.

The Cowboys finished ninth so they won’t get Lamar, giving Schroyer his wish. They will play either Incarnate Word or Southeastern Louisiana.

“We get a second chance,” Schroyer said. “Hopefully we will play better. It has been a very tough year.”

McNeese (10-13, 4-10) really struggled offensively in both games against the Cardinals, averaging 52.5 points over the two games.

“They did a really good job against us, getting us off our spots,” Schroyer said. “They had us scouted very well.”

That was obvious from the start, as the Cowboys could not get into any type of offensive flow.

McNeese made a mini run of sorts midway through the second half, as KeyShawn Feazell followed a missed shot with a thunderous dunk and Collins Warren hit a 3-pointer to cut the Lamar lead to 50-40. But Lamar’s Anderson Kopp scored five quick points to restore order for the Cardinals.

The Cowboys were done in by a horrible first half, as they hit one 3-point shot and the came with less than a minute left.

“We were a train wreck offensively in the first half,” Schroyer said. “The ball got sticky and we lost our floor balance.”

Feazell was also saddled with early foul trouble, playing 7:39 of the first half. He got his fourth foul 90 seconds after the break, but managed to stick around until the end, finishing as one of two Cowboys in double figures with 10.

“We struggled when Keyshawn was out,” Schroyer said. “We go through him for a lot of our offense. Our lack of execution in that half really bothered me.”

Carlos Rosario led McNeese with 13.McNeese State’s Harwin Francois drives the baseline against Lamar’s Ellis Jefferson during a game Saturday at Burton Coliseum .

Kirk Meche / Special to the American Press