Bobcats fall short against Southern Miss

Texas State fell short last Saturday night as the Bobcats lost to the Southern Miss Golden Eagles 78-74.

It was tough evening for both the Bobcats (11-16; 4-10) and Head Coach T.J. Johnson as Texas State as without starters Kaden Gumbs and Dylan Dawson due to injures.

“I thought we gave a better effort than we did Thursday night,” Johnson said. “But to win on the road you have to defend and execute, two things that we obviously struggled with today. We’ll go home, regroup and see if this week we can address the little things that made such a big difference before Thursday night.”

Southern Miss jumped on Texas State from tipoff as the Golden Eagles took a 13-5 lead in the first five minutes of the game.

But a 7-2 run by the Bobcats had Texas State back in the game before the Bobcats tied it at 1919, following a Coleton Benson jumper in the sophomore guard’s first start as a Bobcat.

Following a pair of Southern Miss’ Austin Crowley to go back up 21-19, Texas State went on a 7-0 run capped off by a Brandon Love layup to put the Bobcats up 2621.

Despite the Golden Eagles’ best efforts, Texas State held off their comeback attempts, as the Bobcats went into halftime up 38-33.

The Bobcats maintained their lead in the early goings of the second half as a Jordan Mason layup pushed Texas State’s lead to 47-42.

But Southern Miss hit back by going on a 7-0 run to take a 49-47 lead.

Benson tied the game back up for the Bobcats with a layup before junior forward Chris Nix hit the jumper to put Texas State back up 51-49.

Southern Miss once again answered back going on a 6-0 run as the Golden Eagles took the lead at 55-51.

Texas State was able to cut the lead down to 5756 with an opportunity to take back the lead once again, but the Golden Eagles’ had other plans.

A 7-0 run by Southern Miss had the Golden Eagles with a commanding 64-56 lead with less than 10 minutes remaining in the game.

Despite being a glaring hole, Texas State refused to give in.

The Bobcats battled back before making a quick 5-0 run via a Nix jumper and a Benson three pointer to make a 68-65 game.

Both Texas State and Southern Miss traded baskets back and forth before another Nix jumper made it a 72-69 game with less than four minutes remaining.

After trading baskets, both teams went cold over the next two minutes as the Bobcats and the Golden Eagles were unable to hit the crucial point.

Sophomore forward Davion Sykes broke the cold streak by hitting one free throw to make it a 72-70 with 1:42 remaining in the game.

Southern Miss hit a layup to go back up four only for Mason to hit two free throws to make it 7472.

A missed three pointer by Southern Miss gave Texas State an opportunity to tie the game up but a missed layup doomed the Bobcats’ comeback as the Golden Eagles held on for the win.

Mason led the team in scoring with 18 points followed by Benson with 17. Nix and junior forward Brandon Love finished with 10 points.

Texas State will be back on the road this week as the Bobcats take Georgia Southern Thursday night.

cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc