LAKE CHARLES, Louisiana – One of ACU head coach
Joe Golding's favorite sayings in regards to his team is "find a way." In fact, he repeats it endlessly to anyone who will listen.
And in the final timeout huddle Wednesday night in the H&HP Complex it was the last thing he shouted to his players before they went back out on the floor to try and finish off the McNeese Cowboys.
The Wildcats listened well because they found a way to win a game they had to have, edging McNeese, 73-72, in the Cowboys' brand-new arena. The win was an answer to last Saturday's disappointing 71-68 loss at Sam Houston State and it also marked the 100th career victory for Golding, who is in his eighth season as the head coach at his alma mater.
"It's not about me; it's about the players," Golding said in the aftermath of the nail-biting victory that pushed ACU to 13-3 overall and 2-1 in the Southland Conference. "We've got 13 wins on the season and I think this one is my favorite, but not because it's my 100th. It's because of the way we fought and battled and found a way to win a road game against a very talented team."
It wasn't easy for the Wildcats, who built as much as an 11-point lead early in the second half before McNeese rallied with a 16-4 run to take a 52-51 lead. From there, the game settled into a taught struggle with neither team holding more than the six-point advantage the Wildcats enjoyed with 8:05 left in the game. McNeese, in fact, wouldn't lead over the final 8:58 after a layup by
Jaren Lewis gave ACU a 58-57 lead.
The Wildcats, however, couldn't put the Cowboys away even though they built as much as a five-point lead on a couple of occasions. ACU led 70-65 with 2:06 left after
Jaylen Franklin hit a running floater in the lane. Franklin missed the free throw to complete the three-point play and Malik Hines answered with a layup on the other end to cut the ACU lead to 70-67.
On ACU's ensuing possession, Lewis missed a jumper with 1:09 to play, but Franklin skied in between three McNeese defenders to grab a key offensive rebound and help the Wildcats keep possession of the ball. That possession led to another 1-for-2 effort at the line for Franklin and a 71-67 lead with 40 seconds to play. But James Harvey answered for McNeese as he buried a long-range 3-pointer with 27 seconds left to make it a 71-70 game.
McNeese called its final timeout with 23 seconds left to set up the final sequences and that gave Golding one final chance to encourage his team with his favorite euphemism. And the Wildcats found a way.
Lewis hit two huge free throws with 16 seconds left to make it 73-70 before Kevin Hunt answered with a layup with nine seconds to play to make it a 73-72 game. On the ensuing inbounds play, freshman forward
Joe Pleasant was fouled and he went to the line with a chance to give ACU a three point lead. He missed both free throws and McNeese brought the ball into the front court with time winding down.
ACU guard
B.J. Maxwell was guarding Hunt and he got his hand on the ball, knocking it toward the sideline. Hunt tracked it down and heaved up an off-target 3-pointer at the buzzer and the Wildcats had found a way on the road.
Payten Ricks was the star of the first half with four 3-pointers and 16 points in the first 20 minutes, and he finished with 19 points and five 3-pointers to lead all scorers. Lewis had 15 points, nine rebounds, five assists and one block in 39 minutes.
Hayden Farquhar had 12 points off the bench on 5 of 6 shooting, and he and Lewis hooked up on a couple of beautiful layups. Maxwell had 10 points and Pleasant had seven, while Franklin had five points, five assists and one rebound.
ACU — which has answered each of its three losses this season with a win — will be back in action Saturday at 3 p.m. when it takes on Southeastern Louisiana at the University Center in Hammond, Louisiana.
