Quadir Copeland scored 18 points while DJ Richards Jr. and Javohn Garcia collected 10 each as the McNeese Cowboys led from start to finish against Lamar to capture its second straight Southland Conference Tournament championship and punch its way to the NCAA Tournament in a 63-54 win in front of a crowd of 4,106 at the Legacy Center.

The win marks McNeese's first-time in school history to win back-to-back tourney titles and appearances in the NCAA's Big Dance. Now the Cowboys will work on a new mission... winning in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.

McNeese will learn its opponent and destination on Sunday when the 2025 NCAA Tournament bracket is filled out. Information on a watch party will be announced in the coming days.

The Cowboys, now 27-6 after winning their 11th-straight game, never trailed in the contest and didn't hold their largest lead of 13 points until under a minute to play. McNeese led 51-46 with 4:33 to play when it recorded its longest scoring run of the game at 7-0, to go up 58-46 with 1:08 remaining. Garcia, the league's Player of the Year, scored all 10 of his points in the second half on his way to the tournament's MVP. He led McNeese with 25 points in Tuesday's 19-point win over Northwestern State.

An expected physical game showed in both team's shooting - McNeese hitting 42 percent (20 of 48) while Lamar was held to just 31 percent (20-65). Neither team had succes from behind the arc as well with the Cowboys making 3 of 17 while Lamar planted 5 of 23.

The win was the fourth-straight for the Cowboys in the postseason tournament and is the first back-to-back winner since A&M-Corpus Christi did it in 2022 and 2023.

Copeland added four assists and three steals in the game to help him earn all-tournament honors.