The Texas State Bobcat Men's Basketball team was greeted by the Loud Crowd Crazies of Strahan Coliseum Wednesday night, but fans did all they could as the Cats finished the night just several free throws short and fell to the Sam Houston State Bearkats 79 to 75. The Bobcats now fall to a record of (8-9) on the season and (1-3) in Southland play. Credit to the 2,500 fans who showed up for what turned out to be just another hard fought SLC battle.
The Bobcats went into the game coming off their second straight loss to the Central Arkansas Bears and also went into the game without Freshman Forward Emmanuel Bidias a Moute, who will be inactive for the rest of the season due to academic reasons. The Cats started off the game with a Brandon Bush three-pointer which gave the crowd something to cheer about early on. The Bobcats jumped out to a 7-2 lead within the first three minutes of the game, but as the Bearkats defense started to stiffen up, the Bobcats offense started missing easy buckets. For the rest of the first half the Bobcats struggled to find their shot while the Bearkats offense cruised their way to a comfortable nine-point lead with five minutes left to go in the half.
The Bobcats finished the first half strong after a John Rybak three-pointer and a couple of lay-ups to get the score within reaching distance with the Bearkats up 37 to 32 at the break. The Cats shot just 34 percent from the field in the first half and had no three-pointers made by their leading point scorer of the season, Brent Benson, who had only three points in the first half; while Brandon Bush showed for most of Cats points with nine.
The second half started with the Bobcats taking better shots and tying the game up several times. There were several lead changes throughout the second half with both teams playing stellar defense making it tough for their opponent to get away with any easy buckets. The Cats started to get into foul trouble early in the second half with Brandon Bush and Corey Jefferson picking up their fourth fouls of the game with over 10 minutes left to play. The Cats put the Bearkats to the line after every foul with 10 minutes left in the game and with the Bearkats hitting their free throws, it was tough for the Cats to regain momentum and take the lead down the stretch.
Brandon Bush went out of the game with four minutes left to play after picking up his fifth foul. Bush finished the game with 16 points and 4 rebounds. With Bush out of the game the Bobcats did a good job battling back by getting good looks at the basket and keeping the score within a couple of possessions. Brent Benson started to wake up late in the game when he went to the line several times and made his first three-point shot of the game with :47 seconds left to play. Benson's shot got the Bobcats within three points with the Bearkats up 74 to 71. The Cats made the appropriate fouls, but Freshman Guard Drae Murray stepped up for the Bearkats draining his three free throws, and then Senior Guard Ashton Mitchell finished the Bobcats off by hitting two free throws with four seconds left in the game giving the Bearkats their second SLC victory with a final score of 79 to 75.
The Bobcats shot 42 percent from the field and shot a mere 58 percent from the free throw line leaving 11 points off the board from the charity strike. The Bobcats, who are mostly known for their good shooting, came up short with little baskets made from beyond the arc. The games the Bobcats have lost seem to find the same cliche theme of "live and die by the three-point shot" as the Cats went (6-21) from three-point land. The Bobcats Defense played good enough to win the game, but it proved too much for the Bobcats with the Bearkats hitting their free throws down the stretch.
The Cats now fall to (1-3) in Southland Conference play and are going into Saturday's game against the Lamar Cardinals where the Bobcats will try to break a three game losing streak. You can listen to all the Bobcat Men's Basketball action on txstatebobcats.com or join other Bobcat fans stuff Strahan Coliseum to cheer their Cats to victory.
James McNeal- KTSW Sports Director/Blog Editor
No comments:
Post a Comment