Texas State Needs Overtime to Win "Catfight"

The Bearkats of Sam Houston came into San Marcos on Saturday to face the Bobcats of Texas State. The ‘Kats had the upmost confidence entering the game because they blew out Texas State in their previous meeting 95-64. However, this was senior night for the Bobcats and Senior John Rybak had a different ending in mind. Rybak's 25 points as well as four other Bobcats in double figures propelled Texas State to a big 101-97 upset in overtime over their heated rivals from Huntsville.

The other senior being honored that night was big man Emmanuel Bidias A’ Moute. Big E finished with 16 points and 6 rebounds, and played solid from start to finish in what will be his last game a Strahan Coliseum. Both players will be missed next seaon.

On with the game…

The game started off as a shootout between both teams, and Sam Houston Newcomer Gilberto Clavell was having his way with the Bobcats. Clavell finished with 35 points and 10 rebounds on 15-16 shooting from the line. However, his strong play could not match that of Ryback. John Ryback cut the “clutch switch” on at the 8-minute mark. He hit back-to-back threes and drew a charge in three consecutive plays. His inspiring play had the Strahan Gym rocking and every fan on their feet. The play of the game came later with about 6 seconds left on the clock though. The ‘Cats were down by one and Ryback got the ball on the inbounds play. He got his defender off his feet with .4 seconds left and drew the foul. Ryback hit the first that knotted it up but missed the second so they went into overtime.

In overtime the two teams continued to battle back and forth until the Bearkats were dealt a heavy blow at the 2:15 mark. Josten Crow fouled out of the game with 21 points, 9 rebounds and most importantly 4 steals. Their big-time defender sat down and watched Ryan White knock down 6 straight Free throws to ice the game and the Bobcats won 101-97.

Sam Houston who came into the game 14-1 in conference was upset by Texas State, but they still have the #1 seed going into Tournament play. They finish the Season 22-7. The Bobcats on the other hand end their season with a BANG as they win 3 straight down the stretch and finish 15-15 overall and 9-7 in conference play. With the win and couple of loses, the Bobcats have the #5 seed and they will most likely face the Islanders of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the first round of the Southland Conference Tournament.

All games of the tournament will be played at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas. The Bobcats’ first game will be on Wednesday at 8 p.m. and KTSW will have pregame coverage starting at 7:30. Tune in for live coverage of all of Texas State’s games in the tournament on 89.9 or ktsw.net. Game times and tournament seedings can be found on either txstatebobcats.com or Southland.org

-Robert Fisher, KTSW Sports Staff Writer