Photo courtesy of McNeese Athletics

McNeese Cowboys basketball is headed back to the NCAA Tournament for the third year in a row after securing its third Southland Conference Tournament championship in three years.

“Super excited to get to continue to coach this team,” McNeese head coach Bill Armstrong said. “They’ve been a joy to coach from day one. That’s what it means to me more than anything else is I get to be with them for another week.”

The Cowboys, who finished the season 25-8 overall and 19-3 in conference play, find out Sunday what their next week will look like. Round 1 of March Madness is set for March 19.

McNeese Athletics has scheduled a selection show watch party starting at 4 p.m. Sunday at Townsley Law Arena.

In the lead-up to the three-peat, the Cowboys survived a grueling triple-overtime battle for an 84-80 victory against the University of Texas-Rio Grand Valley in Tuesday’s semi-final game. The Cowboys showed resilience late, pulling away in the third overtime after both teams traded baskets through two extra periods.

Freshman guard Larry Johnson, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, led the team in scoring with 27 points, and junior guard Tyshawn Archie, who was also named to the All-Tournament Team, finished with 14 points.

After a few hours of sleep, McNeese carried that momentum into the championship matchup against Stephen F. Austin, defeating the Lumberjacks 76–59 to claim the Southland Conference Tournament title.

Senior guard Javohn Garcia, named the tournament MVP, delivered a standout performance, scoring a career-high 31 points on 11-of-18 shooting while knocking down five 3-pointers and grabbing five rebounds. Johnson added 18 points and six rebounds, while Archie contributed 17 points and five assists to help the Cowboys pull away in the second half.