LAKE CHARLES, La. -- Shahada Wells scored 27 points and McNeese beat Nicholls 92-76 on Wednesday to win the Southland Conference tournament and advance to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2002 with its 30th victory this season.
Wells, the conference player of the year, had three 3-pointers and was 12-of-13 from the line for the top-seeded Cowboys (30-3), who won their 11th straight game and finished 18-0 on their home court. Wells also scored 27 points in a 76-57 semifinal win over Lamar.
DJ Richards Jr., with four from beyond the arc, added 16 points, including 12 in the first half when he combined with Wells for 29 points and McNeese took a 48-32 lead. Javohn Garcia scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half. Christian Shumate added 11 points including a couple of thunderous second-half dunks.
Diante Smith scored a career-high 33 points on 11-of-20 shooting, including five 3-pointers, to lead the third-seeded Colonels (20-14), who lost by a combined 64 points in three matchups with the Cowboys. Robert Brown III added 13 points and Jamal West Jr. 11.
McNeese led by double figures from the seven-minute mark of the first half. The Colonels got within 12 with four minutes left in the game, but the Cowboys scored five straight points punctuated by a Shumate dunk.
Antavion Collum and Wells hit 3-pointers in the first minute and McNeese led throughout. Smith scored six points in a 10-2 run to get Nicholls within a point, but the Cowboys then scored the next 13 including six straight from Wells on their way to a 16-point halftime lead.