Jan. 17, 2009

Final Stats

Game Stats in PDF Format

CONWAY, Ark. (AP) - Despite a furious second-half rally by Texas State, Central Arkansas outscored the Bobcats 22-17 in the final 10 minutes of the game and held on for a 77-72 victory on Saturday afternoon.

The Bobcats scored the first two points of the game on a slam dunk by senior forward Brandon Bush, but the UCA's Marcus Pillow nailed a pair of three-point field goals and a free throw to give the Bears a 7-2 lead. UCA increased its lead to 11 three times in the opening period and led 40-29 when Pillow made his third trey with six seconds left in the opening period.

The Bobcats scored the final bucket of the half when Corey Jefferson drove the ball down court and hit a jumper from the top of the key as the buzzer sounded to end the first half and pull Texas State to within 40-31 halftime.

The Bears extended their lead to 44-31 in the first two minutes of the second half. After Ty Gough tipped in a missed lay-up by Jefferson, Pillow missed a three-pointer but grabbed his own offensive rebound.

That is when Texas State head coach Doug Davalos inserted freshmen John Bowman and Roshun Jackson, along with Emanuel Bidias A Moute and Cameron Johnson to join Jefferson on the floor.

The Bobcats benefitted immediately as Bowman forced a turnover by UCA's Drew Clayborn and hit a jumper in the lane. Then Johnson stole the ball from Pillow and Jackson hit Bidias A' Moute for a lay-up. A minute later, Jefferson stole the ball from Clayborn and scored three points the old fashioned way with a lay-up and free throw off the steal.

Bidias A' Moute tipped in Jackson's missed lay-up on Texas State's next possession to pull the Bobcats to within 44-42.

The Bobcats regained the lead at 48-46 after Jefferson and John Rybak nailed a pair of three-point field goals.

The game was tied at 50-50 when Rybak nailed three free throws to give the Bobcats a 53-50 lead with 11:26 left to play.

Central Arkansas scored four straight points on back-to-back lay-ups by Chris Brown and Brooks Taylor to take a 54-53 lead.

After Gough made a lay-up to put Texas State up 55-54, UCA's Brian Marks made one of his two free throws to tie the score at 55-55 with 9:42 left to play.

After Pillow stole the ball from Johnson, Texas State's Ryan White was charged with his fifth personal foul. Pillow made the second of his two free throws to give UCA a 56-55 lead.

Mitch Ruetter, who led Central Arkansas with 20 points in the game, made two more free throws to give the Bears a 58-55 lead.

Texas State scored four straight points on a pair of free throws by Johnson and another slam dunk by Bush, his fourth slam dunk of the game, to take a 59-58 lead with 7:00 minutes left to play.

But, UCA answered with five straight points when Rueter hit a jump shot in the lane and Marks scored three points off a lay-up and free throw to give the Bears a 63-59 lead.

Bush made one of his two free throws to pull Texas State back to within three, but Clayborn hit a pair of free throws to give the Bears a 65-60 lead with 3:58 left in the game.

The Bobcats made one last run when Rybak hit back-to-back jump shots to pull the Bobcats to within 67-66 with 2:19 left to play.

After Johnson stole the ball from Rueter on UCA's next possession, Jefferson's three-point shot went half-way down before rolling off the rim to Clayborn, who hit Brooks Taylor for a lay-up with 1:22 left in the game. To compound things, Gough ran into Taylor while trying to get back and Taylor made the free throw to give UCA a 70-66 lead.

After Marks intercepted Jefferson's pass intended for Bidias A' Moute, the Bobcats were forced to foul the remaining 59 seconds. UCA made 7 of their 10 free throws down the stretch to win the game 77-72 and hand Texas State its second-straight conference loss.

In addition to Reuter's 20 points, Taylor added 19 points and Pillow finished with 15 for the Bears.

Texas State was led by Rybak's 16 points, while Jefferson and Gough scored 12 points each and Bush finished with 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Texas State returns home for two straight home games against Sam Houston State on Jan. 21 and Lamar on Jan. 24. The Bobcats are 8-8 overall this season and own a 7-1 mark in Strahan Coliseum. Texas State is 1-2 in Southland Conference play this season.