LAKE CHARLES – McNeese completed its first-ever season sweep over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi by a score of 74-67 on Saturday afternoon in front of a Legacy Center record crowd of 4,324 as the Cowboys also extended their lead in the Southland Conference standings.
 
McNeese improved to 21-3 on the year and 10-1 in conference action. The win total marks the third-most ever in a season in the history of the program. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi fell to 14-9 overall and 7-3 in league play, and after Lamar defeated Nicholls on Saturday night, dropped into a three-way tie for second place with those two teams as the trio trails McNeese by two games.
 
Four Cowboys scored in double-figures led by Antavion Collum with 14 points. Collum came up with a couple of big buckets late in the game, first a fall-away jump shot that put an end to an AMCC 9-2 run that saw McNeese's 14-point lead dwindle to seven with under five minutes to play, then came up with a huge three-pointer on the next possession to build the lead back to double-digits at 61-51 with 3:40 on the clock.
 
But the true icing on the cake occurred 40 seconds later when Shahada Wells fed Christian Shumate a pass on the baseline. Shumate, while dodging a defender, finished off the play with a windmill dunk that blew the roof off the Legacy Center.
 
Shumate finished the night with 12 points and 13 rebounds as he recorded his sixth double-double on the season and 27^th in his career. Eight of Shumate's rebounds were on the offensive glass. Javohn Garcia added 12 points and CJ Felder scored 10. Wells led the way with seven assists and four steals.
 
A physical game saw both teams hurting for shots in the first half as McNeese made just 8 of 28 while Corpus connected on 7 of 19. The two combined to go 0 for 13 from long range in the first 20 minutes.
 
McNeese found its offensive rhythm in the second half, sinking 15 of 24 shots for 63% and finished the game making 23 of 52 for 44%. The Islanders made 23 of 57 for 40% for the game. Each team made three 3-point buckets and the two combined to shoot 64 free throws = McNeese 25 of 35 while Corpus made 18 of 29.
 
The Cowboys held a 44-33 advantage in rebounds and outscored the Islanders 40-36 in the paint.
 
McNeese led 30-21 at the break and got an early second half layup by Omar Cooper to make it 32-21 and give the Cowboys and 11-point lead. The Islanders scored five straight to cut the margin to 32-26 then after Garcia knocked down a 3, Corpus responded with five straight point off a jumper from Garry Clark then a three-pointer from Dayne Prim as the McNeese lead was clipped to 35-31. Clark led the Islanders with 16 points while Prim added 15.
 
McNeese answered with six consecutive points, four of those from DJ Richards Jr. who made 1 of 2 free throws and a three-pointer.
 
Shumate gave the Cowboys their largest lead with his first ShuSlam in the game to make it 52-37 with 11:27 on the clock. Corpus Christi later made a run but Collum's three-pointer appeared to be the dagger.
 
McNeese will be back in action on Monday when they visit HCU for the first meeting of the season between the two teams.
 
Postgame Notes:
• The 21 wins are the most in a season since winning 21 in 2010-11.
• The record for wins in a season is 33 (1955-56) but since becoming Division I, the record for wins in a season is 22 (2000-01).
• McNeese improved to 13-0 at home on the year.
• The Cowboys have held their conference opponents to less than 70 points in all 10 wins.
• With four steals, Shahada Wells increased his season total to 69, ranking tied as the 4^th-most in school history in a single-season.
• With 12 points, Christian Shumate topped the 1,200 career points scored milestone, now with 1,209 ranking him 23^rd all-time in school history.
• McNeese improved to 17-0 on the season when leading at the half.