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LAKE CHARLES, La. — Quadir Copeland scored 18 points and McNeese defeated Lamar 63-54 in a cold-shooting, defensive battle, giving the Cowboys back-to-back Southland Conference Tournament championships. The top-seeded Cowboys (27-6) will be making their fourth appearance in the NCAA Tournament. McNeese led 33-30 at halftime and the defensive battle continued in the second half as McNeese went 5 for 15 and Lamar 5 for 23 in the first 12 1/2 minutes. McNeese led 47-41 at the under-8 timeout. Sincere Parker made four free throws to help the Cowboys maintain their lead over the next several minutes and they finally got their next made field goal on a dunk by Christian Shumate to lead 53-46 with three minutes remaining. McNeese finished off the win with a series of 10 made free throws.
