BEAUMONT – Sincere Parker scored 16 of his game-high 25 points in the second half including knocking down seven straight free throws in the final 36 seconds to secure McNeese's 68-66 win over Lamar and capture the Battle of the Bayou crown for the second time this season in front of 5,746 fans, a season-high for Lamar.
 
The win was the eighth-straight for the Cowboys as they improve to 24-6 overall. It also increased their Southland Conference record to 18-1, setting a new school record for league wins in a season and one away from tying the Southland's record of 19 held by Stephen F. Austin (2019-20). McNeese will play at SFA on Monday night at 6 on ESPNU with a chance to tie the mark.
 
It's also the 54^th win by McNeese over the last two seasons, tying the school record over a two-year span set by the 1955 and 1956 Cowboys.
 
Lamar fell to 18-12 overall and 13-6 in the league and will host Nicholls on Monday night for the No. 2 tournament seed and double-bye.
 
Javohn Garcia added 10 points for McNeese who outscored Lamar 37-31 in the second half after trailing 35-31 at the break.
 
McNeese used a 20-2 second half run over an 8:49 span to rally from a 38-31 deficit at the 18:58 mark to a 51-40 lead with 10:13 remaining.
 
The Cowboys appeared to be in control after Garcia sank a step-back jumper with 4:10 to play to make it a 59-49 lead but Lamar stormed back with a 10-0 run to tie the game at 59-59 with 1:39 remaining.
 
Garcia put McNeese back on top with two free throws then Parker hit the second of two freebies to give the Cowboys a 62-59 advantage with 36 seconds to play. Lamar got a quick 2 then Parker sank two more free throws to make it 64-61 with 21 ticks to play.
 
Another quick basket by the Cardinals trimmed it back to 1 with 12 seconds to play. Parker was sent to the line again where he hit both free throws, then after Lamar missed on another short jumper, Parker pulled in the rebound and was fouled, following up with two more freebies to make it a 68-63 lead.
 
Lamar banked in a long 3 at the buzzer to close the gap.
 
McNeese shot 43 percent for the game (23-54) and was great in the second half, hitting 57 percent including sinking 8 of its first 10 of the half to ignite the run. McNeese was just 3 for 15 from long range for the game and was 19 of 32 at the free throw line, but knocked them down when it was needed.
 
Lamar shot just 36 percent (22-61) from the field and was 9 of 27 from three-point range for 33 percent. The Cardinals were held to 4 of 14 in the second half from behind the arc and made 13 of 15 at the free throw line.
 
Lamar held a 39-38 advantage on the glass including a 15-12 lead in offensive boards.
 
McNeese turned the ball over just seven times in the game and blocked six shots.
 
Postgame Notebook:
• Christian Shumate played just 3:41 in the first half after getting whistled for two early fouls.
• With a 3-pointer made on the night, DJ Richards Jr. now has 75 on the season, tying him with Demond Mallet as the 13^th-most in a single season in school history.
• Brandon Murray's 5 points moves him to 982 in his career, 18 short of the 1,000 milestone.
• The 20-2 run began with a 13-0 spurt, or a Kill Shot, the 30^th of the season for the Cowboys who entered the game ranked No. 2 in the NCAA in kill shots.
• McNeese has recorded at least one kill shot in 15 of 19 conference games played.
• Parker's 25 points marked his fourth 20-point game of the season and it was his third-straight double-digit scoring game.
• McNeese's 54 wins over a two-year span are the 3^rd-most in Southland Conference history, one behind Louisiana Tech's 55 wins with Karl Malone in 1984 and 1985 and five away from Stephen F. Austin's record of 59 set in 2013 and 2014.