Bobcats drop doubleheader against rival Arkansas State

It was rough night for both the Texas State Men’s and Women’s teams last Thursday as the Bobcats drop both games against Sun Belt rival Arkansas State.

Texas State WBB couldn’t overcome Red Wolves hot second half

Despite a lights-out first half of shooting from junior Jaylin Foster that saw her with 20 points at the half, the Bobcats suffered a 73-48 loss in Jonesboro on Thursday night.

Fosters’ 8-8 night was the forward’s best performance and season high as a Bobcat. She’d finish the night on 25 points, four rebounds and a steal as she led the Bobcats in scoring. Her 3-3 threepoint shooting was also a season-high from beyond the arc and Out of the gate, the Bobcats game was in Foster’s hands. In the first quarter alone she already had eight points of the Bobcats’ 13 in just eight minutes. The Bobcats shot 5-9 from the field in the opening quarter but while the ‘Cats were plagued by turnovers, Izzy Higginbottom went for 12 points on 5-6 shooting all on her own. After one, Texas State trailed by 10.

The second quarter was an even affair between the two sides. Foster was able to keep things rolling for 12 points while the Bobcats quieted Higginbottom, limiting her to just four points. The ‘Cats out-rebounded the Red Wolves in the second quarter to tie the quarter, with each side scoring 16. At the half the Bobcats still held the 10 point deficit.

Out of the halftime break though, Arkansas State came alive. After the home side scored 21 points in the third, the Bobcats had 24 points deficit to overcome in the fourth quarter. Foster led the Bobcats in threepoint shooting on the night as well.

Bobcat comeback comes up short against Red Wolves

Trailing by as many as 12, Texas State made a late charge but fell short on the road to Arkansas State 85-82 Thursday night from the First National Bank Center.

“It was a hard-fought game. Whenever you play a Sun Belt game on the road you know it is going to be a war. I thought this one was a classic Sun Belt match-up,” head coach Terrence Johnson said. “They [Arkansas State] do a really good job and got it going. We played hard and competed but the toughest thing for us was to sustain the energy and focus that it takes to win in a hostile environment.”

Brandon Love, coming off a career-high game on Saturday, made his first nine shot attempts on his way to putting up 19 points with all coming in the first half. Dylan Dawson netted 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting with four made three-pointers and dished out two assists.

Coming off the bench, Coleton Benson scored 15 points as he went 4-for-5 from beyond the arc. Dontate Horne added nine points and Davion Sykes grabbed a teamhigh seven rebounds.

It was an explosive first half as both teams shot over 54% and found each lead by as many as four. For the Bobcats, the front court trio of Christian Turner (4), Love (10) and Sykes (2) combined to score the Bobcats first 16 points of the game.

The Bobcats entered halftime with a 39-38 lead but was held scoreless over the last 3:03 of the period.

The cold streak carried over to the second half as the Bobcats were outscored 17-4 over the first eight minutes of the half.

Trailing 75-64 with less than four minutes left in the game, the Bobcats cut the deficit one point following tough three point shot by Dawson with 15 seconds left in the game at 83-82 but were unable to complete the comeback.