McNeese Heads West for Early Test Against Santa Clara

Santa Clara, California (KNGT-FM) - Basketball season is officially off and rolling for the 2025-26 season, and the McNeese Cowboys are set for their first real test of the season as the Bayou Bandits will travel to California to take on Santa Clara on Friday Night.

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The Bill Armstrong era got off to a hot start with a win over Champion Christian to start the season on Monday. Freshman transfer Larry Johnson stole the show, scoring 30 points in just under 18 minutes while shooting 12-of-16 from the field and making all six free throws. Eleven Cowboys scored in that game, with six players reaching double figures.

The Cowboys will be looking to avenge last season's loss in Lake Charles to the Broncos. Santa Clara is the only team to defeat McNeese inside the Townsley Law Arena over the last two seasons.

Santa Clara also comes into Friday's game 1-0, fresh off the win over Cal Poly Humboldt, 83-53. In that game, the Broncos got balanced scoring, including Thierry Darlan (13 points, 13 rebounds) and Christian Hammond (13 points, 9 rebounds, 5 steals).

Projected Starting Lineups:

Santa Clara Broncos:
#0 Knapper
#1 Hammond
#8 Mahi
#44 Ensminger
#22 Graves

McNeese Cowboys:
#1 Garcia
#2 Richards Jr
#8 Archie
#10 Fredson-Cole
#13 Ndonja

McNeese will visit Santa Clara on Friday Night. Tip-off is set for 9 p.m. Lake Charles time (7 p.m. Pacific), and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+.