LAKE CHARLES – Santa Clara broke a 67-67 tie with a 7-0 run in the final 3:01 to defeat McNeese 74-67 in a mid-major college basketball clash on Tuesday night in front of 3,102 in the Legacy Center. The loss by McNeese snapped the nation's fourth-longest home winning streak at 20 games.
 
The loss dropped McNeese's record to 4-4 overall while Santa Clara, a member of the strong West Coast Conference, improved to 4-5 on the year.
 
McNeese will be back in action on Saturday when it hosts LeTourneau at 3 p.m.
 
Joe Charles and Christian Shumate each scored 17 points to lead the Cowboys while DJ Richards added 11. Shumate also led the team with seven rebounds and three steals but the Broncos had the upper hand in the rebounding department with a 42-32 advantage including 14 from the offensive glass that led to 21 second chance points.
 
Tyeree Bryan scored 17 to lead SC while Christoph Tilley and Carlos Stewart each added 13.
 
McNeese led 31-28 at the half but saw and nine-point lead with under four minutes to play dwindle to the three-point advantage.
 
In the second half, Santa Clara opened with back-to-back 3s by Tilley and Stewart to give it its first lead of the game at 34-31. McNeese retook the lead following a Charles basket with 17:30 to play and with a 35-34 advantage.
 
SC followed with a 6-0 run, building a 40-35 lead with 16:54 remaining after a Adama Bal three-pointer. The lead grew to nine points after Tyeree Bryan sank a 3 with to give the Broncos a 57-48 lead with 10:34 to play.
 
McNeese cut the margin to 2 after a Richards three at the 8:12 mark then tied the game at 63-63 with 5:31 left after the second of two-straight Charles 3s. The teams traded scores over the next couple of minutes and Javohn Garcia hit two free throws with 3:01 to play to knot things up at 67-67 and the final points McNeese would score on the night.
 
In that final 3:01, the Cowboys committed their only turnover of the half but and went 0-for-4 from the field and 0-for-3 at the free throw line.
 
The Cowboys also had one of their worst nights shooting on the season, hitting just 39 percent (24-61) while connecting on 25 percent from three-point range (4-16). McNeese also made 11 of 17 from the free throw line for 65 percent but was just 4 of 9 in the second half after sinking 7 of 8 in the first.
 
Santa Clara was better from the field, hitting 23 of 56 for 41 percent, 10 of 29 from 3-point range for 35 percent, and nearly perfect at the free throw line making 18 of 19 for 95 percent.
 
WORTH NOTING:
With 17 points on the night, Christian Shumate upped his career total to 1,413, making him just the 20^th player in school history to reach the 1,400-point milestone. Add in his seven rebounds to give him 916 in his career, he becomes just the third player in school history to record 1,400 points and 900 rebounds in a career, joining Hall of Fame brothers Edmond and David Lawrence.