Johnson leads McNeese to 84-80 3OT win over UTRGV in Southland Conference Tournament semifinal

Mar 11, 2026, 05:11 pm

LAKE CHARLES, La. -- — Larry Johnson scored 27 points to lead McNeese, including the winning layup with 29 seconds left in triple-overtime, and the Cowboys defeated UT Rio Grande Valley 84-80 on Tuesday night in a Southland Conference Tournament semifinal.

On UTRGV's final possession, Johnson forced a turnover and then sealed it with a dunk.

The No. 2 seed Cowboys (27-5) will face top-seeded Stephen F. Austin in the championship on Wednesday.

Johnson also had 12 rebounds and seven steals for the Cowboys (27-5). Tyshawn Archie scored 14 point and Jovohn Garcia finished with 12 points. The Cowboys picked up their eighth straight win.

Koree Cotton led the Vaqueros (19-14) with 20 points, 13 rebounds and two steals. UT Rio Grande Valley also got 17 points and eight rebounds from Marvin McGhee. Jaylen Washington also had 13 points and four steals.

The Cowboys' Garwey Dual hit the game-tying dunk with six seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime. Johnson scored seven points in third overtime.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.