The new was guard Mike Saunders, who had a big night in his second game since being cleared to play for McNeese State.

The old, reliable Christian Shumate, who was his thunderous self as the Cowboys toppled Incarnate Word 80-66 to improve to 16-2 overall and 5-0 in the Southland Conference, where they reside alone in first place. 

McNeese will look to match its best start in program history Monday with a victory in Corpus Christi, which would tie the mark set 50 years ago. The Cardinals fell to 5-12, 0-4. 

“It was a workmanlike performance,” said McNeese head coach Will Wade. “We got off to a good start, got the early lead but could never really pull away.”

Saunders, a two-time transfer from Utah and Cincinnati, missed the first 16 games of the season while waiting first for clearance from the NCAA then family matters. 

He made his Cowboy debut Monday in McNeese’s win over Lamar. Saturday he found his shooting touch, finishing with a team-high 20 points off the bench. He hit on 6 of 10 shots, including a pair of three-pointers.

“Tonight was my night,” said Saunders. “We got a deep team and that’s how it is going to be, different guys on different nights. It is good to be back.”

Saunders caught the attention of his coach.
“Mike was tremendous,” said Wade. “That is what he is capable of. He hit a couple threes, finished at the basket. He was aggressive.

Shumate, the junior forward, had 13 points and seven rebounds, including four dunks he has named ShuSlams. The only time UIW made a run at McNeese in the second half, Shumate dunked three times in just over a minute to push the lead back to 18, 61-43 with 9:41 remaining.

That put the finishing touches on the Cardinals, who were led by Josiah Hammond’s game-high 27. Hammond made 7 of 11 from long range as UIW fired up 27 threes and hit 11 while trying to keep things close.

“That was a big run,” said Wade. “It gave us a cushion that we needed.”

C.J. Felder was the third Cowboy to finish in double figures with 11, nine in the first half. 

Behind scoring runs of 14 and 11 points, the Pokes took control of the game early, racing out to a 34-15 lead with 5:20 left in the opening half.

Christian Shumate’s first dunk of the night ended an 11-0 spurt over a span of 3:31 to give McNeese the 19-point lead.

“We got great spurtability,” said Wade. “We can turn it on quick.” 

The Cowboys led 42-30 at the break with half of those points coming from three bench players, Saunders (5), DJ Richards (7), and Felder (9).

The first half included a rare 4-point play from Richards, his second in as many games. That came with 12:55 left as part of the 14-0 run that put the Pokes up 16-3. 

McNeese made 22 of 26 free throws, continuing to stay hot from the line. Over their last two games, the Cowboys, who struggled earlier in the season on free throws, have hit 47 of 54.

They outscored the Cardinals 44-12 in the paint and 30-11 off turnovers.

On Monday the Cowboys will stay in Texas to finish their road trip. They will be looking to break a try 16-game losing streak at the hands of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. 

The game will be broadcast on ESPNU starting at 7 p.m.