LAKE CHARLES – Monday night was senior night for McNeese's three seniors – Javohn Garcia, DJ Richards Jr, and Jerrell Colbert, but it was freshman phenom Larry Johnson who made sure the elders went out with home perfection after game-high 20 points helped lift the Cowboys to a 75-68 win over UTRGV to capture a perfect 14-0 home season.
 
The victory extended McNeese's winning streak to a season-high six games while improving its record to 24-5 overall and 17-3 in Southland Conference play. It was the Cowboys' 10^th win in their last 11 games. UTRGV fell to 16-12 and 12-8 and lost for just the second time in the last 12 games.
 
McNeese finished 14-0 at home this season, including 11-0 in league games. Over a three-year span, McNeese posted a 30-0 home record in regular season conference games and 47-1 mark overall at home. The win also extended the Cowboys' current home winning streak to 27-consecutive games, the third-longest current streak in the NCAA.
 
On Monday night, McNeese's defense played brilliantly in the first half, holding UTRGV to just 22 points while forcing nine turnovers and just 36 percent shooting. The Cowboys used a 10-0 run in the final 4:15 of the half to go into the break with a 34-22 lead.
 
Jacolb Fredson-Cole, who finished with six points, four rebounds, two assists and three steals in 18 minutes of work, created a turnover with a steal and fastbreak dunk at with just over a minute to play, then got another steal and two free throws 30 seconds later to spark the late half run.
 
The Vaqueros, who entered the game outscoring their last 11 opponents by 11 points, got the offense going in the second half and trimmed the McNeese lead down to 3 following a Marvin McGhee three-pointer at the 16:52 mark to make it 36-33.
 
McNeese answered when Colbert slammed down a second chance bucket then Johnson streaked the lane for back-to-back layups to give the Cowboys a 42-36 cushion with 13:31 left. But three 3-ball closed the gap to 42-39 after RGV's Dane Christensen quickly silenced a potential McNeese run.
 
The Cowboys' Yanis Ndjonga, who hasn't played in the last three games, came up big with one of his six rebounds and two off the offensive glass with a grab and putback to keep the Cowboys with a two possession lead with just over 12 minutes remaining.
 
The scoring went back-and-forth over the next five minutes with McNeese maintaining a two-possession lead until the Vaqueros cut the lead to 57-55 with 5:16 remaining, the closest they've been since midway through the first half.
 
Richards Jr. then knocked down the biggest 3 of the game to silence the UTRGV momentum and put McNeese on top 60-55 at the 4:44 mark. And after the RGV cut it to 3 following two free throws, Tyshawn Archie pulled the trigger on a 3-pointer followed by a Garwey Dual break-away dunk to give McNeese an eight-point advantage at 65-57 with 3:16 on the clock.
 
Carl Cherenfant put the icing on the top with a fastbreak layup off a Colbert steal to make it a 69-60 game with 2:12 to play. Colbert, Dual, Archie and Cherenfant all hit free throws in the final to minutes to secure the win.
 
Archie finished with 15 points while Colbert added 10 points and nine rebounds.
 
Filip Brankovic scored 15 points to lead RGV.
 
McNeese will next be in action on Saturday when it visits New Orleans then will finish off the regular season next Monday at Nicholls.
 
Postgame Notes:
• McNeese recognized its three seniors in a pregame ceremony – Javohn Garcia, DJ Richards Jr., and Jerrell Colbert.
• Garcia missed his second straight game and is still listed as day-to-day.
• McNeese moved one game closer to Stephen F. Austin in the league standings. The Lumberjacks lost at home to New Orleans, 77-73, to snap SFA's 13-game winning streak.
• The Cowboys finished unbeaten at home (14-0) for the second time in the last three years (18-0 in 2023-24).
• During that span, McNeese is 30-0 in regular season Southland Conference games and 47-1 overall in regular season home games.
• Adding in conference tournament games, McNeese is 51-1 at home the last three years.
• With his 20 points in the game, Larry Johnson now has scored 490 total points on the season and is 38 points away from breaking Joe Dumars' freshman school record of 527.
• Johnson needs 10 more points to mark only the 33^rd time in school history to see a player score 500 points in a season and just the ninth since 2000.
• DJ Richards Jr. sank two three-pointers in the game, giving him 222 in his career at McNeese. He needs eight more to move into fifth all-time in the McNeese career record book.
• Richards Jr. scored eight points on the night, giving him 973 in his McNeese career, 27 from the 1,000 milestone.
• Garwey Dual added five assists on the night to give him 122 on the season, 17 away from moving to 10^th on the school's single-season record list.