Bobcats comeback attempt falls short against Arkansas State

Texas State’s woes on the basketball court continued as the Bobcats fell to the Arkansas State Red Wolves 79-72.

It has been a rough road for the Bobcats and Head Coach Terrence Johnson as Texas State dropped their conference record to 1-6 overall, which is tied for last place in the Sun Belt along with Louisiana Monroe and Old Dominion.

“We have been doing some soul searching trying to figure this thing out,” Johnson said. “We are a team that is struggling right now. I just believe that it is because we are trying to find an identity. It happens like that. We have a lot of inexperienced players in position. Even some of the guys that are older, they are still new to the program.”

Early in the first half was a fierce back and forth between both the Bobcats and the Red Wolves as neither held a lead larger than four points.

After fourteen minutes of play, both teams were tied up at 24-24.

Arkansas State broke through towards the end of the first half hitting consecutive three pointers to go up 30-24.

The short scoring spurt was enough for Arkansas State to build up their lead and into the second half as Texas State trailed 43-36.

The Bobcats went off to start the second as Texas State went on a 7-0 run to tie the game up at 43-43.

But Texas State’s impressive run was soon snuffed out as Arkansas State responded with a 9-0 run to extend the lead at 52-43.

Texas State never backed down and continued to chop into Arkansas State’s lead once more.

Following a made jump shot by sophomore guard Jordan Mason, the Bobcats trailed 56-54 with 12:06 remaining in the game.

But a short 5-0 run by the Red Wolves pushed Arkansas State’s lead out to seven as they now led 61-54.

Once more, Texas State made the push to cut into the Red Wolves lead and tried to take their first lead of the game since the first half.

The Bobcats responded again by going on a 8-1 run capped off by another made jumper by Mason as Texas State tied the game up at 62-62 with 7:08 remaining in the game.

But Texas State could not overtake the Red Wolves in the moment as Arkansas State went on a 7-1 run to take a 69-63 lead.

Texas State was unable to tie the game as Arkansas State rolled to a 79-72 win for the Red Wolves first win in San Marcos since 2014.

Mason led the team in scoring tying a career high with 21 points.

Freshman guard and San Marcos High School graduate Kaden Gumbs finished the season in scoring with 12 points followed by forward Brandon Love with 10.

As the Bobcats will look to snap out of their current malaise during their next two-game road swing, Texas State will key on how to improve themselves.

“We have to figure out a way to get better,” Johnson said. “[Losing] is not something that we are not going to accept. So we have to start soul searching and figure out a way to get better.”

Texas State returns to play tonight as the Bobcats will travel to Troy to take on the Trojans.

cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc