The recent recipe for McNeese State success has been a big game from Dontae Cannon and a big effort from an unexpected contributor.

It happened again Thursday night, as the Cowboys came from behind to stun Oral Roberts 56-54 at Burton Coliseum.

“This is a good win against a good basketball team,” said McNeese coach Dave Simmons. “They were in a position to win the league. We were very fortunate to come out and play hard. It wasn’t pretty, but it was a gutty win.”

Cannon scored a game-high 19 points — 11 of which came in the final 7 minutes — as McNeese (12-14, 6-9 Southland) finished the game on a 20-7 run. The Cowboys were 7-for-9 from the field in that stretch.

“We lost so many one-point games with Central Arkansas and Nicholls State buzzer-beaters, so it was about time to be on this side and get a win,” Cannon said. “We need to keep winning in these last four games, so I knew I needed to have a big game.”

The biggest play of the game didn’t even make the stat book.

Brandon Regis, who spent the first 39 minutes, 45 seconds of the game on the bench, was inserted as a defensive substitution after Cannon hit two free throws to put the Cowboys up 56-54.

“Brandon, he’s one of our tougher defensive guys,” Simmons said. “He’s quick and strong enough, and that’s what you have to have.”

Regis showed why he was in that role, knocking the ball away from Golden Eagles forward Damen Bell-Holter with 3 seconds left before Cannon corralled the ball to get credit for the steal.

“(Simmons) had faith in me, and I’m just thankful I was able to help the team get the defensive stop and get the victory,” Regis said.

The frenetic finish looked nothing like the vast majority of the game. McNeese scored 20 points in the final 7 minutes after managing 36 in the first 33.

“We struggled on offense all night,” Simmons said. “We needed to speed them up and get into transition. We were not getting anything on the half-court sets. But we’re better in transition. Easy baskets from defense help our confidence, and that got us the win.”

Sub Pete Kpan once again made the most of his time, playing the final 6 minutes after getting on the floor for 3 minutes earlier in the game.

“Defensively, we didn’t have to give us much help,” Simmons said. “He was able to bang with Bell-Holter down there. That was a big key when Peter was inserted.”

McNeese outboarded the Southland’s top rebounding team by a 32-31 margin.

Shawn Glover led ORU (17-12, 12-4) with 18 points, while Warren Niles added 16. Bell-Holter recorded a double-double with 13 points and 13 boards.

Kevin Hardy finished in double figures for McNeese with 13 points.

The Cowboys shot 54.2 percent (13 of 24) in the second half. McNeese scored 16 points on the fast break compared to two for ORU.

NOTE: McNeese raised more than $2,000 for Samaritan’s Feet, which will be enough to purchase approximately 200 pairs of shoes for disadvantaged local children. Simmons coached the game barefoot to raise awareness for the charity.

McNeese State’s Dontae Cannon goes up for the shot over Oral Roberts’ Shawn Glover during the first half Thursday night. (Rick Hickman / American Press)