McNeese To Face Lamar In Semifinals On Tuesday

The McNeese Cowboys have been able to sit back and enjoy the first few days of the Southland Conference Tournament inside the Legacy Center in Lake Charles. The Cowboys are the outright Southland Conference Champion and locked up the #1 seed a week ago.

The men’s side of the tournament began on Sunday and proved that March is just as wacky as it always seems to be. Both games on Sunday featured upsets as New Orleans defeated Southeastern and Texas A&M Commerce defeated Northwestern.

The Cowboys didn’t have many troubles during the Regular Season as they finished with a 28-3 overall record which marked one of the biggest turnarounds in College Basketball History.

In a mid-major program, none of that means anything.

We have already seen numerous upsets in Conference tournaments across the nation with top-seeded teams going down. An automatic bid is only promised to the Champion of the tournament in the mid-majors.

On Monday Night, the Lamar Cardinals defeated New Orleans 71-57 inside of the Legacy Center. Privateers were able to get up early in the contest as they led by 9 early on in the matchup, but then the Cardinals began to settle in. The pivotal point was holding UNO's lethal scorer Jordan Johnson to just 7 points after Johnson torched Southeastern for 34 points on Sunday Night.

During the regular season, McNeese swept the Cardinals. The “ice game’ in Lake Charles was one of the more memorable nights. It had all of the hype because each team was undefeated in conference play at the time. The Cowboys won the first matchup 88-69.

In Beaumont, the Cardinals had their way with the Bayou Bandits throughout the majority of the matchup. Cowboys were able to escape the Montagne Center with a 58-56 win over the Cardinals after Antavion Collum hit a three with .3 remaining on the clock.

On Tuesday the two squads will meet again in the Semifinals for a spot in the Southland Conference Championship Game, and a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

The game will be Nationally Televised on ESPNU. You can also LISTEN LIVE on Magic 92.1 with Tom Hoefer and Ron Hayes on the call. The game is slated for 5:30.