By Blaire McManus and Christa Bell

Providence, R.I. — Cinderella danced Thursday as the No. 12-seed Cowboys
won their first ever NCAA Tournament playoff game. McNeese advances to
Saturday’s Round of 32 with the 69-67 win over No. 5-seed Clemson.
Apple News called it a massive upset.
Sports Center posted about the bracket-shattering upset that only left
1.4 million perfect brackets out of 24 million.
Cowboys Forward Christian Shumate called it a dream.
“I’m sure in a couple of days or when this is all over I’ll wake up and look back at it like, OK, that really did happen,” he said in the post-game press conference at Amica Mutual Pavilion Thursday.
At the tipoff, McNeese put the first points on the board at 31 seconds in with a Shu-Slam.
Both teams played hard during a low-scoring first half. McNeese kept Clemson at 8 points for 5 minutes and 12 seconds in the first half. The Cowboys steadily increased their own lead, finally ending the half with a score of 31-13.
“Our first half was flawless defensively,” head coach Will Wade said. “We’ve been saving that zone all year.”
McNeese fans cheered in a sea of blue and gold while the Courtside Cowboys pep band played Joli Blon.
Clemson scored 54 points in the second half. McNeese kept pace, but with just over seven minutes left, Clemson came on strong, shrinking the McNeese lead until the nail-biting end.
In the final minute of the game, McNeese scored four. Clemson scored 14.
Clemson scoring its last basket at one second, bringing the score to 67-69 just as the buzzer sounded.
Guard Javohn Garcia told media during a Wednesday press conference that the team wasn’t done. Shumate said Thursday the team would move forward with that attitude as they prep to meet No. 4-seed Purdue Saturday.
“Right now we stay focused,” Shumate said. “We’re trying to keep on winning games. We got to this point, and we’re looking forward and trying to get on to the next one and keep on moving forward. It’s an amazing feeling.”
Around 300 blue and gold-clad fans shared that feeling, celebrating as the final seconds ticked down and Clemson took its final shot.
For Guard Quadir Copeland, the win breaks his 0-4 losing streak to the Tigers.
“To beat them in this situation on this stage, it’s amazing,” he said.
McNeese President Wade Rousse, who was among those celebrating the upset win, said the impact on McNeese has been tremendous.
“This has been a great thing for McNeese,” he said from a front-row seat in the McNeese fan section. “This is all McNeese right now.”
McNeese’s website analytics supported that, with a spike in traffic up more than 200% that crashed the servers during game time.
Copeland said the victory wasn’t about beating Clemson.
“We could have beat any team in here,” he said. “It’s just amazing to win with these guys.”
Wade celebrated the win by jumping into the stands.
“Our biggest supporters were right there on the front row, so why not?” he said. “It’s just incredible.”
Wade praised the fans, the donors, and the administration who made the trip and helped cheer the Cowboys on to victory. He said the win changes everything.
“All that stuff works together,” he said. “Everybody deserved this. They have gone all in on our program since the day we got here, and everyone deserves it.”
Wade acknowledged that some have called the program a bit wacky, with the focus on the outlaw theme and the monicker Bayou Bandits.
“But hey, who’s laughing now?” he said.