LAKE CHARLES – McNeese took one step closer to capturing its second-straight Southland Conference Tournament Championship after holding off a gritty Northwestern State before pulling away with an 83-64 win in the tournament semifinals in front of 3,567 in the Legacy Center.
McNeese, now 26-6 on the season and the tournament's top seed, will play Lamar in Wednesday's championship game at 4 p.m. The Cardinals, the No. 2 seed, defeated Nicholls 58-55 to set up only the second-ever finals matchup between the two rivals (Lamar defeated McNeese 70-49 in the 2012 championship).
Javohn Garcia, the league's Player of the Year, led all scorers with 24 points behind of 8 of 14 shooting, to go along with four assists. DJ Richards Jr. added 14 points while Christian Shumate and Brandon Murray each scored 11.
McNeese led 42-25 at the half after starting the game on a 21-5 run over the first seven minutes, hitting eight of its first 10 shots including 3-for-4 from three-point range.
The lead grew to 19 points, 42-23, after a Garcia layup with 26 seconds to play before NSU's Jon Sanders hit a jumper at the buzzer to close the gap to 17.
The Demons (16-16) scorched the nets early in the second half, sinking five three-pointers in the first five minutes to cut the margin to 53-42 with 14:51 to play. The lead trimmed to five after three Patterson free throws at the 8:59 mark to make it 62-57, but McNeese turned the intensity to go back up by double-digits with Garcia taking over.
McNeese held the Demons scoreless in the final 3:18 while outscoring them 12-0 to run away with the victory as Garcia put a stamp on the contest with a 3-pointer with 24 seconds remaining.
The Cowboys connected on 27 of 50 from the field for 54 percent and hit 11 of 19 from 3-point range for 58 percent while holding NSU to 23 of 56 shooting (41 percent) and 9 of 26 from long range (35 percent).
McNeese held a 30-29 advantage in rebounding and forced the Demons into 12 turnovers and the Cowboys sank 18 of 21 from the free throw line.
Postgame Notebook:
• McNeese will be making its second-straight conference tournament championship game and looking to win back-to-back tourney titles for the first time in school history.
• It'll be the eighth finals appearance in school history where it has compiled a 3-4 record.
• McNeese won its 10th-straight game, its second 10-game or more winning streak on the season (won 11-straight from Dec. 22 to Jan. 27.
• Garcia recorded his 22nd double-digit scoring game on the year and sixth game with 20 or more points.
• The Cowboys won all three games against the Demons this year by an average of 80-61 score.
• Brandon Murray scored 11 points on the night, moving him to 7 away from scoring 1,000 in his career.
• With five assists, Quadir Copeland has dished out 4 or more in 10 straight games.
• That also increases his season total to 143, moving him into 9th in the school record book in a single-season.
• DJ Richards Jr. made four 3s on the night, increasing his season total to 83, matching him with that number he sank last year and ranking as the 7th-most in a season in school history.
• Over the last 9 games, Richards Jr. has made 33 of 54 from bonus land for a 61% aim.
