March 12, 2009

Final Stats

Game Stats in PDF Format

Katy, Texas - Despite key contributions from its four seniors, the Texas State men's basketball team could not overcome a 62-percent shooting effort by Nicholls in the second half, as the Colonels won the first game at the 2009 State Farm Southland Conference Tournament Thursday afternoon at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas.

The Bobcats held Nicholls to 35-percent shooting in the first half and Brandon Bush and John Rybak combined for 23 points as Texas State held a 34-26 lead at halftime.

Bush played 19 minutes in the first period and made four of his seven shots from the field and four of his five free throws to lead the Bobcats to 13 points. Rybak added 10 points and blocked two shots in the opening period.

The Bobcats also held Nicholls to 35 percent shooting from the field, including a 1-10 effort behind the three-point line, and forced 10 turnovers by the Colonels.

"I thought we did a great job of taking the things they wanted to do offensively away from them in the first half by being the aggressors on defense," Texas State head coach Doug Davalos said. "In the second half, we played back on our heels a little bit and allowed them to do anything they wanted."

That resulted in Nicholls shooting 62 percent (13-21) from the field and 57.1 percent (4-7) behind the three-point line as the Colonels scored 54 points in the second period.

After Cameron Johnson scored the first two points in the second half to give the Bobcats a 36-26 lead with 19:34 left to play, Ryan Bathie, who scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half, scored five straight points and Anatoly Bose added a pair of free throws to pull the Colonels back to within three points, 36-33.

Texas State answered with a trey from Brent Benson to push the lead back up to six, but couldn't get its lead any higher.

With the Bobcats leading 43-38 following a pair of free throws by Johnson, the Colonels used a 14-8 run to take a 52-51 lead on a jumper by Chris Iles.

The game turned into a free-throw shooting contest the rest of the way as both teams struggled to regain any offensive continuity.

Justin Payne's two free throws gave the Colonels their biggest lead of the game at 72-64 with 1:21 left to play and went on to win 80-75.

The Colonels made 75 percent of their free throws, making 24 of 32 at the line, in the second half, while Texas State shot 71 percent at the free-throw line in the second half, connecting on 12 of 17 free throws in the period.

Bathie and Bose scored 20 points each to lead Nicholls, while Justin Payne and Chris Iles each scored 10 points.

In addition to Bush's 20 points, Benson added 15 points, while Corey Jefferson scored 11 points and Rybak finished with 10.

"I told the players that this game was very similar to how our season has gone this year," Davalos added. "The first half looked like how we played the last eight games of the regular season, while the second half was a close resemblance of the first six games."

Texas State finishes the season at 14-16, while Nicholls improves to 20-10 overall this season.