Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s heartbreaking loss to McNeese was featured late Monday night on ESPN after Christian Shumate got a put-back to fall with three-tenths of a second to send the Cowboys to a miraculous 62-61 win at the American Bank Center.
ESPN’s SportsCenter highlighted the video of Shumate getting the shot to fall to help McNeese erase an 18-point second half deficit to the Islanders and thwart their upset bid.
Mike Saunders Jr. missed the second of two free throws that could have tied the game, but the Cowboys corralled two offensive rebounds, the second leading to Shumate’s tip-in just before the buzzer.
The Cowboys, who are receiving votes in The Associated Press Top 25 rankings, improved to 17-2 and 6-0 in Southland Conference play with the win, televised by ESPNU. The win snapped a string of 16 consecutive wins by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the series between the two schools, dating back to 2013.
The Islanders (11-8, 4-2) have won each of the last two Southland Conference Tournament championships along with the regular season crown last season to nab NCAA Tournament appearances.