TXST MEN’S BASKETBALL
The Bobcats’ hot February continued as Texas State won their seventh game in a row, defeating the South Alabama Jaguars on the road 90-82 in overtime.
Texas State improves to 18-11 overall and 106 in conference, sitting 0.5 games out of first place, positioned third along with App State. Both teams will meet next Friday.
“Wow, what a game, I’m proud of our guys as they showed a high level of resiliency and connectivity,” Head Coach Terrence Johnson said after the game in a statement. “[Richie] Riley is a great coach and he had his guys ready to play. I thought our guys found a way to make the right play at the right time.
“The key to the game was our ability to rebound the ball and limit turnovers versus their zone. We were able to make some shots from the three-point line, which really helped us as well. It was a complete and total team effort.”
The Bobcats trailed in the beginning of the first half, down 7-2, but responded with a 10-2 run to take their first lead of the game at 12-9 following a layup by senior Mark Drone.
Texas State failed to give up the lead, pushing the deficit up to 12 after a jumper from freshman D.J. Hall made it a 40-28 game with less than two minutes remaining in the first half.
South Alabama rallied to cut the deficit down to seven points as the Bobcats led 40-33 at halftime.
The Jaguars exploded in the second half, going on a 17-4 run to retake the lead at 50-44 with less than 13 minutes remaining in the game.
Though it looked like South Alabama had firm control of the game, the Bobcats swung the pendulum back in the other direction.
Sophomore Franck Emmou hit back-toback three-pointers for Texas State tying the game at 50-50.
Though South Alabama managed to briefly recapture the lead, the Bobcats surged again before Emmou hit another three-pointer to put Texas State up 59-58.
Texas State led by as many as six points but the Jaguars continued to battle.
With less than a minute remaining, South Alabama outscored Texas State 6-2 including making a threepointer with just nine seconds left in the game, sending the game into overtime at 75-75. In overtime, Jalen Bolden made the layup to give the Bobcats the lead be- fore Emmou hit another three-point dagger to put Texas State up 8075.
South Alabama made it a one-possession game at 82-79 but Emmou delivered another clutch three-pointer to extend the Bobcat lead to 85-79 with less than a minute and a half remaining in overtime.
Texas State sealed the game with clutch free throws as the Bobcats won 90-82.
Hall led the team in scoring with a teamhigh 24 points along with eight rebounds. Emmou finished the game with 17 points along with shooting 5-8 from the three-point line. Freshman Robert Hall was third in scoring with 15 points and eight rebounds. Drone was the fourth Bobcat who scored in double figures with 11 points along with seven rebounds and eight assists.
As a team, the Bobcats outrebounded the Jaguars 37-26.
Texas State closes out the week back on the road as the Bobcats clash with the rival Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns.
The Cajuns enter the weekend with a 9-19 overall record and a 6-9 conference record coming off a loss to Arkansas State last Thursday.
Tipoff is set for 12 p.m. Saturday at the Cajundome in Lafayette.
