LAKE CHARLES – Where there's a Will, there's a Wa(y)de.
 
In a comeback win for the ages, the McNeese Cowboys overcame three technical fouls, three ejections, and a 13-point deficit in the final 10 minutes to defeat Louisiana-Lafayette 74-72 in front a sold-out and Legacy Center record crowd of 4,300 on Sunday afternoon while remaining perfect at home (7-0) and now 2-0 with the return of head coach Will Wade.
 
The win was the fifth-straight for the Cowboys and snapped an 8-game losing streak to ULL. McNeese improves to 10-2 on the year and marked the first time since the 1972-73 season a Cowboys team has won 10 games through the first 12. ULL fell to 6-5 on the year and 0-4 away from home.
 
Five McNeese players scored in double-figures, led by Shahada Wells with 18 points to go along with eight rebound, five assists and two steals. DJ Richards added 17 points while Javohn Garcia scored 14 points behind 3-for-3 shooting from three-point range. Christian Shumate scored 12 points with seven boards while Antavion Collum added 10 points.
 
Kentrell Garnett scored 19 points to lead the Cajuns.
 
Trailing 45-40 with 12:54 to play in the second half, a missed ULL layup that was blocked by Shumate ended with the ball being batted around like a pinball with players from both teams diving on the floor in an attempt to corral the loose ball.
 
A mild scuffled ensued in front of the ULL bench and when the dust settled, three technical fouls were called on the Cowboys while three players were ejected, including starters Omar Cooper and Collum for leaving the bench.
 
That helped the Cajuns build a 57-44 lead with 10:36 left on the clock.
 
McNeese found it rhythm and began to mount its comeback, starting with a 10-0 run over the next two minutes to cut the margin to 57-54 following a Richards three-pointer. Two of those points came on a couple of Richards free throws following a taunting technical foul against ULL's Hosana Kitenge.
 
The Cajuns went back up by five points at 59-54 when Wells started to take over the game for the Cowboys, beginning with a nice pass to Shumate for a dunk then followed that with a steal and fast-break layup, and continuing with another assist to Garcia who sank a three-pointer to give the Cowboys a 61-59 lead with 6:55 to play.
 
After falling behind by 1 at 64-63 with 5:39 on the clock, Richards came up big with another 3 to put McNeese on top by two points, then extended it to a 68-64 lead after a Wells layup with 4:16 remaining.
 
The Cajuns answered with a quick 7-0 run behind back-to-back 3s from Joe Charles to put ULL back on top 70-68, and after a couple of Themus Fulks free throws snapped a 70-70 tie to put the Cajuns up 72-70 with 1:22 to play, Richards drilled his third three-pointer of the game and in the second half, to put McNeese on top for good with 47 seconds left.
 
He then came up with a steal on the defensive side which led to a couple of free throw attempts by Cam Jones who hit 1 of 2 to make it 74-72. A missed three-pointer by ULL's Fulks with 1.5 seconds to play was initially ruled a goal tending after Shumate rebounded the ball that was well short of the rim, but after replay showed there was no goal-tending, McNeese obtained possession.
 
A last-second desperation three by ULL following a couple of missed free throws by the Cowboys, fell off the mark and McNeese closed out with its fifth-straight victory.   
 
McNeese hit 51.1 percent from the field (24-47) and made 60.9 percent (14-23) in the second half. The Cowboys connected on 7 of 15 from three-point land for the game.
 
ULL, who held a 33-28 lead at the half behind 52 percent shooting, made just 44.4 percent in the second half and finished the night 24 of 50 for 48 percent. The Cajuns made 7 of 18 three-pointers with four of those coming in the first half.
 
ULL was great at the free throw line, making 17 of 20 for 85 percent while the Cowboys, who made all five freebies in the first half, finished 19 for 28 for 67.9 percent.
 
The Cowboys held a 29-24 advantage in the rebounding.
 
McNeese will take a break from action for the Christmas holiday and will return on December 29 when it visits Michigan. That game, which carries a 6 p.m. CT tip, will broadcast live on the Big Ten Plus channel.
 
Postgame Notes:
• Senior transfer CJ Felder made his McNeese debut in the first half with 14:35 on the clock and it didn't take long for him to get the crowd on its feet when just 50 seconds later, had an electric put-back dunk that gave McNeese a 14-10 lead at the time.
• Christian Shumate added two "Shu-Slams" in the game, bringing his total number of dunks on the season to 14, while as a team, the Cowboys had three dunks, giving them 22 on the year.
• Following the ejections at the 12:08 mark, the Cowboys played with the same five players the rest of the way – Wells, Richards, Garcia, Shumate and Jones.
• Shumate moved past Don Troutman for 30^th on the McNeese all-time scoring list after his 12 points gives him 1,062 in his career (Troutman has 1,055).
• McNeese has wins this year over VCU, UAB, Southern Miss and ULL - all who each won 20-plus games last season.
• The Cowboys defeated their sixth, non-Southland Conference Division I opponent, something that hasn't happened since the 1977-78 season.
• When ULL scored the first two points of the game, it was the first time this season that McNeese did not score the first points at home.
• The win gave head coach Will Wade his 198^th all-time victory.