Stepping Up a Level

By Jim Gazzolo

Will Wade’s Bayou Bandits may still be a work in progress, but progress is looking pretty good.

The Cowboys played host to the toughest foe in McNeese basketball history last Monday night inside the Legacy Center and the athletic department pulled out all the stops. 

McNeese called for all fans to take part in a “White Out” game, even giving away tee shirts to fans as they continue to try and sell the program. 

It worked, as 3,537 came to watch McNeese take on North Texas, a team from the American Athletic Conference with roughly three times the budget of the Pokes, not that it mattered.

The previously unbeaten Mean Green lost for the first time as the Cowboys rallied in the second half for a hard-fought 68-61 victory that wasn’t decided until the very end.

“It was everything I expected,” Wade said. “Our crowd was great, we played really hard and our kids responded.”

The win improved McNeese’s record to 2-2 as they get ready to start the Paradise Jam Tournament on Friday in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“It was an exciting game,” said forward Joe Charles. “The crowd was crazy. It’s why I wanted to come here.”

Charles, who spent his first three seasons at Louisiana-Lafayette, got to experience the wildness inside the Legacy Center last year as a member of the Cajuns.

After eight straight losses to their rivals, the Cowboys rallied against Charles and ULL from 13 points down in the second half to win 74-72. 

“I saw it from the other side last year,” Charles said. “It was something else.”

This year Charles is with the Legacy Loonies as the Cowboys improved to 2-2 as they head to play Illinois State to open the tournament. Louisiana-Lafayette, who the Cowboys will travel to play on Dec. 22 in the Cajundome, is also in the tournament but on the other side of the eight-team bracket.

Charles played big against a physical North Texas team that just days before had gone on the road and knocked off Minnesota of the Big Ten. 

For the Cowboys, the game was part of an upgraded schedule designed to have more wins than a year ago when they went 30-4, but rather get the team prepared for a hopeful run in the postseason. 

McNeese is looking to go to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments for the first time and has never won a game in its three previous trips.

“This is a great tournament to get us prepared for March,” said Wade. “That’s why we are playing all these tough games. We will just them to ourselves ready.”

The Cowboys also wanted to reward their fans with some much-improved home opponents, something fans have been asking for.

“We have been working to get better opponents to come play here,” said McNeese Athletic Director Heath Schroyer. “It is part of us trying to continue to build the program and our brand. However, it is not easy to get people to play here.”

That won’t get any easier after games like Monday’s. The win was the 20th straight on their home floor for the Cowboys. 

McNeese will host another quality mid-major program when Santa Clara comes calling on Dec. 3 for a Tuesday night game. 

But now McNeese is showing it can not only play with the big boys but it’s share of them down.

Just ask North Texas.

Jim Gazzolo is a freelance writer who covers McNeese athletics. He is the host of Poke Nation on CBS-Lake Charles