Preston David and Daniel Richard are two players who have turned in quality playing time coming off the bench for the McNeese State Cowboys this season and both are expected to be at their best on Saturday when the team tackles Texas State in a Southland Conference outing.

            Now back into the running for the league's eastern division title with a 3-4 loop mark, the Cowboys take on the Bobcats in San Marcos, TX in a 4 p.m. game.  Radio coverage will be provided by Cajun 1470 AM with Richard Dow at the mike.

            "We're look for them to give us a lift when they come into the game," said head coach Dave Simmons of the two post players.

            David, a 6-9 junior from Farmers Branch, TX, began the year with seven starts while Richard, a 6-9 sophomore from Lake Charles, has had three starts.  Both, however, seem to play better coming off the bench.

            In the last Cowboy outing,  a 92-85 victory over Northwestern State, David came on for 14 minutes of playing time and turned in a career high 11 points while pulling eight rebounds, also his high.

            Richard got in six minutes of playing time in that outing and produced eight points and two rebounds along with a blocked shot.  The eight points were also his career high while he got a career high seven rebounds against Paul Quinn earlier in the year.

            Simmons said that with the conference stretch run coming up, he's looking for similar performances from David and Richard in each and every game.

            With their league record of 3-4, McNeese is now in third place in the eastern division standings, only two and one-half games in back of Stephen F. Austin which is 6-2.  Southeastern Louisiana is 5-3 and in second place.

            Texas State is a member of the western division and is 4-4 in league play.  Overall the Cowboys are 8-13 and the Bobcats are 10-12.

            The game provides the Cowboys an opportunity to give Coach Simmons his 75^th career coaching victory.  In six seasons as a collegiate head coach, he's achieved 74 triumphs, 47 of them at McNeese.

            Saturday's contest could develop into a high scoring outing.  Although averaging only 68.4 points per game, the Cowboys can go high as last Wednesday's 92 points prove.  Texas State is one of the league's higher scoring teams with a 76.0 average but the Bobcats are also giving up 78.4 points a game.

            Sophomore Patrick Richard continues to lead the Cowboys in scoring with a 13.3 average while Diego Kapelan is at 12.5 per game.  P. J. Alawoya leads in rebounds with 7.8 per game while Stephan Martin is tops in free throw shooting with a .933 mark (14 of 15) for conference games only.

            Following this game the Cowboys return home to host UT Arlington at the Lake Charles Civic Center on Feb. 10.