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Texas State enters conference tournament as 5th seed
In front of the largest crowd in three years, Texas State won their program record 16th home game, defeating the App State Mounataineers 60-57, forcing a six-way tie for second place and securing the fifth seed in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
The Bobcats finished the regular season with a 19-12 overall record, including a 16-1 home record as Texas State played their final home game.
“It meant a lot for us, especially on senior night,” senior Kyndall Davis said. “Our families were here and it was a packed crowd, so we wanted to put on the show. With the trials and tribulations, we knew the season wasn’t gonna be perfect. There were going to be bumps in the road, but we needed them so we could be the team who we got today.”
Over 4,000 in attendance showed up at Strahan Arena to support the Bobcats which Head Coach Terrence Johnson noted helped the team in securing the win.
“They had a lot to do with it,” Johnson said. “The players have been playing every game and they may not have believed the way they believe tonight. They could have folded their tent early, but the crowd wouldn’t let them. That team could have figured it out late, but the crowd wouldn’t let them.
“I asked these students [before the game] ‘Hey, just show up and pull the rope. Show up for us like we want to show up for you. If you show up for us, I promise you, we will show up for you,’ and that happened tonight. I’m going to be honest with you. We don’t win this game without this crowd.”
It was a thrilling backand- forth game which saw six lead changes between the two teams. The Bobcats trailed 11-2, their largest deficit, to start the game before Texas State made their comeback.
Texas State tied the game at 23-23 after a made jumper from freshman D.J. Hall before App State pushed their lead to 29-25.
But the Bobcats went on a 9-2 run to close out the first half, capped off by a three-pointer from Jalen Bolden as Texas State took the lead at 3431. App State made two late free-throws on a foul at the buzzer as the Bobcats led 34-33.
The second half turned into a furious back-andforth contest as neither team held a lead larger than six points.
With less than five minutes remaining in the game, App State led 5551 following a threepointer.
Hall made it a one-possesion game following a layup, then knocked down one free throw to make it a one-point game at 55-54.
With nearly a minute remaining in the game, senior Mark Drone knocked down a jump shot to put the Bobcats back up 56-55.
On the next possession, Davis stole the ball to give the ball back to the Bobcats. Despite Texas State not making the shot, Davis grabbed the defensive rebound on the next possession and was later fouled to get sent to the line where the senior knocked down two free throws to put the Bobcats up 58-55.
App State later made the layup to make it a one-possession game but were unable to retake the lead by Drone made one last defensive rebound before hitting the final two free throws to seal the win.
Drone led the team in scoring with a game high 23 points followed by Hall with 14 points. Hall also grabbed 11 rebounds to complete the doubledouble. Davis was third in scoring with 12 points.
With the win, the Bobcats denied App State a share of the Sun Belt Conference title while forcing a six-way tie for second place.
The Bobcats enter the conference tournament as the No. 5 seed where they will need to win four games in four days in order to capture the conference tournament title. Texas State will start tournament play Friday.
