LAKE CHARLES – The McNeese men's basketball team will look to stay undefeated at home when they host Texas College on Tuesday at 7PM at Burton Coliseum. Tuesday night's game will be the Cowboy's last chance to tighten the bolts before conference play begins.
McNeese will be facing Texas College for only the second time in program history. The first, coming in head coach
Dave Simmons premier year- 2006. The Cowboys defeated the Steers 77-53 at home.
The Steers are coming off a road loss to Langston University. Texas College is now 4-10 on the season after the 105-89 defeat.
Leading the Steers was Patrick Petty, who scored 26 points in the loss. Teammate Cedric Carson also broke the 20 point line, banking nine of the 14 field goal attempts, good for 22 points of his own.
McNeese recently returned to Lake Charles after a 0-2 week on the road. The Cowboys fell to North Carolina Central on Thursday and Pittsburgh on Saturday.
"Obviously we knew going into Saturday's game that it would be a tough contest, it always is when you match-up against an ACC school" head coach
Dave Simmons said.
The Cowboys dropped to 2-7 on the year after Pitt pulled ahead 21 points in the second half. McNeese was only down by five at the half, after leading for nearly 11 minutes of the first half.
"We're playing better since our last road trip and we had the opportunity to win in both games. Down by a handful at the half, we were looking to come back, shoot better, and get the opportunity to win down the stretch" Simmons said.
"But we're not shooting as well as normal from the free-throw line and even though we put up a solid 70 shots, we were hurt by our shooting percentage and the inability to score."
Newcomer
Quatarrius Wilson will be looking to lead the Cowboys to their third win at home, after his second double-double of the season at Pitt.
Junior guard
James Harvey is back to his skilled shooting. After totaling only five points against Louisiana and North Texas, Harvey returned to the court for 33 points combined at NCCU and Pitt.
"
Stephen Ugochukwu has been tremendous under the basket, getting his rebounds, and if we can get him to pick up his point production- he'll be in great shape" Simmons said.
The Cowboys have been a force to be reckoned with on the glass, matching or even outrebounding five opponents this year.
"If we continue to rebound, and keep pulling down 20 offensive rebounds in every game, we will be ready for conference play and be able to compete with all our opponents" Simmons closed.
McNeese and Texas College will tip-off at 7PM in Burton Coliseum. Links to live stats and video will be available at McNeeseSports.com. Fans are encourage to follow the Cowboys on Twitter at @McNeeseMBB for live in game updates and all information regarding Cowboy Basketball.
