LAKE CHARLES – McNeese bounced back on Monday night after its first Southland Conference loss of the season last Saturday at Southeastern, cruising to a 77-51 win over Texas A&M-Commerce in front of a home crowd of 3,703 at the Legacy Center.
 
The win gave McNeese (20-3) its first 20-win season in 13 years (2010-11) and the 12^th time in school history, ninth as a Division I program. It also kept the Cowboys in sole possession of first place in the league standings with a 9-1 record and setting up a showdown on Saturday in the Legacy Center against second place Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, who the Cowboys beat on a last-second tip-in after rallying from an 18-point second half deficit.
 
Monday night's game took a bit for the offense to get clicking, but when it did, the Cowboys were rolling.
 
It started with about seven minutes to play in the first half and the Cowboys trailing 20-14. Up to that point, McNeese had made just 4 of its first 15 shots and was shooting blanks from three-point range. A CJ Felder dunk off a pass from Mike Saunders Jr. sparked a run that saw McNeese close out the final 6:05 of the half on a 16-6 run and connecting on 7 of 8 shots from the field as the Cowboys built a 30-26 halftime lead.
 
Shahada Wells, who led the Cowboys with 16 points to go along with four assists, two steals and zero turnovers, drained the first 3 of the game for the Cowboys 17 seconds into the second half. Antavion Collum followed with two straight 3s then another by Wells as the lead quickly grew to 44-31 with 16:10 to play.
 
The lead fluttered between 10 and 13 points for several possessions until DJ Richards Jr. got hot and connected on two consecutive 3s to grow the lead to 54-35 at the 12:02 mark. Richards Jr. finished with 13 points after hitting 3 of 5 from behind the arc as his final trey on the night gave McNeese its largest lead at the time at 65-43 with 6:31 to play.
 
The field general trio of Wells, Saunders Jr. and Omar Cooper helped the Cowboys completely dominate the second half as the three combined to dish out 13 assists, score 34 points, collect six steals and did not turn the ball over once. The second half alone they combined for nine assists, 18 points, five steals and no turnovers.
 
Saunders Jr. finished with 14 points and a team-high five assists.
 
Christian Shumate led the Cowboys with seven rebounds to go along with four points in just over 17 minutes of action.
 
The Lions (8-15, 2-8) were led in scoring by Kow Agwa and Tommie Lewis with 10 points each.
 
McNeese shot 55 percent for the game, hitting 28 of 51 shots but knocked down 17 of 28 for 61% in the second half, including 8 of 13 (62%) from long range. Commerce made just 5 of 21 shots (24%) in the first half with three of those makes coming from behind the arc. The Lions weren't much better in the second half and hit only 13 of 45 shots for 29% for the game.
 
McNeese outscored TAMC 47-25 in the second half.
 
 Postgame Notes:
• The 20 wins for McNeese are the most in a season since winning 21 games in the 2010-11 season which was the last time the Cowboys won the SLC title.
• It's the 12^th time in school history to win 20 games and ninth as a Division I program.
• Will Wade improved his record to 12-1 as a Cowboy.
• The win marked the 12th home win this season, the most in a season in Legacy Center history and the most home victories since 2010-11 (15).
• With two steals on the night, Shahada Wells increases his season total to 65 and ranking him tied for 7^th on the McNeese single-season steals record list.
• Improved to 16-0 when leading at the half.
• 17-0 when shooting 45% or better.
• 13-1 when shooting 40% or better from 3FG range.
• 17-1 when shooting better FG% than opponent.
• 10-0 when holding opponent below 40% FG shooting.
• With Monday night's win, McNeese recorded its 1,110^th all-time win and 380^th all-time SLC victory.