Published: December 02, 2008 03:31 pm      

Bobcat men struggle against Northern Colo.

College Basketball

Greeley, Colo. — It was one of those games, where if someone liked defense, they stayed home.

Texas State, with plenty of offense, couldn’t hold off Northern Colorado. The Bobcats outscored the Bears in the seconcd half, but fell 105-93 on Saturday night.

Jabril Banks scored 21 points and Will Figures added 18 to lead Northern Colorado.

Northern Colorado (2-2) opened with a 3-pointer from Figures and never trailed.

The closest Texas State (2-3) came to overtaking the Bears was after Tre Nichols hit a jumper to tie it 24-24 and was fouled with 9:35 to go in the first half, but Nichols missed his free throw.

The Bears led by as many as 20 in the second half.

Texas State chipped away with a 10-2 run in which Brent Benson stole the ball and went on to make three straight 3-pointers and a free throw, pulling Texas State to 89-83.

Northern Colorado made 14 free throws the rest of the way, and Jefferson Mason had a dunk to seal the win.

Benson finished with 19 points.



UTEP 85,

Texas State women 74

EL PASO — An offensive surge came a little too late for the Texas State Bobcats Saturday night and despite outscoring tournament host UTEP in the second half, the Miners avoided a the loss by holding off the Bobcats for an 85-74 win at the at the 2nd Annual Thanksgiving Classic.

The Bobcats end their season-opening six-game road trek with a 2-4 record, while the Miners shift to an even 3-3 with the win.

Sviatlana Trukshanina was one of three Miners to finish in double digits, posting 20 points in Saturday’s game, including four from downtown.

The crushing lead was cut by two with a jumper from Chika Ofoegbu and points from four of the Bobcats starting five gave them a fighting chance with a 75-64 score.

Texas State continued to claw its way back into the game, but UTEP never left the court open for unanswered points. With just over two minutes remaining in the game, junior Aimee Hilburn went strong to the basket for two points and the foul, a three-point play that would bring the Bobcats within eight.

Down 79-71, Ashley Cole kept the pace, drew a foul and was sent to the stripe, sinking one of two free throws to put Texas State within seven with 1:51 remaining on the clock. The margin would be the closest Texas State would come to taking the lead.

Texas State fought back from a 46-27 halftime deficit to post the 47-point second half. For the game, Texas State shot 52 percent from the field over UTEP’s even 50. On the boards, UTEP led the way, outrebounding Texas State 34-30. The Miner's capitalized on the feat posting a 28-13 margin in second-chance points over the Bobcats.

Kim Cessna led all Bobcats with 22 points and seven rebounds. Cole and Hilburn chipped in 17 and 10 points respectively. More than half of the trio's tallies came in the second half.

For UTEP, Briana Green led the way with 21 points and alongside Trukshanina, Brittnay Jones recorded a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds.

Texas State's next appearance on the court will be Dec. 3 in its 2008-09 home opener against Paul Quinn slated to begin at 5:30 p.m.