Box Score
Katy, Texas – Fourth-seeded Texas State would not go down easy as it beat fifth-seeded Southeastern Louisiana tonight in the quarterfinals of the 2011 State Farm Southland Conference Tournament, 72-68, to earn a trip to the semifinals. The Bobcats will face top seeded McNeese State tomorrow night at 8:30 p.m. at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas.
Tonight was all Ryan White as he scored a career-high 26 points (8-for-8 FT) to lead Texas State to the semifinals of the conference tournament for the first time since 2003. Tony Bishop was another dominant force on the court as the forward had 18 points (8-for-8 FT) and six rebounds, while Cameron Johnson added 14 points, seven boards and four steals.
The Bobcats shot 87.5 percent from the line as they went 21-for-24, including 14-for-16 in the second half. Texas State refused to have the same outcome as it did in the first round of last year's tournament when it lost to Southeastern Louisiana on a free throw in the final seconds of overtime.
Southeastern Louisiana fought hard to catch the Bobcats in the final three minutes of the game, including a made three-pointer by Brandon Fortenberry to bring the Lions to within two points with 1:08 left on the clock. Unfortunately for the Lions, it was Bishop who would dash their hopes of a comeback when he hit a pair of free throws with 10 seconds left to give the Bobcats a four-point cushion and the victory.
After being down by five points at the half, Texas State came out of the locker room hot as White hit back-to-back treys to trim the score. Brooks Ybarra came out of a media timeout to drain a three-pointer to cut the Lions lead to one, and then White missed a three-point attempt but followed his shot which resulted in a three-point play to tie the game at 42-All with 15 minutes remaining. It was all Bishop for the next three possessions as the forward was hitting jumpers and driving to the hole to keep Texas State in the game and down by one with 11:55 to go in the game.
The Bobcats finally took the lead when White drove to the basket to put Texas State up 50-49. A pair of free throws by Ybarra gave the Bobcats a three-point lead and White added a trey to the mix to extend the score to 55-49. Texas State stayed hot from the charity stripe as Johnson and White combined for 4-for-4 from the free throw line to keep Texas State ahead, 59-55, with 7:05 remaining in the game. Southeastern Louisiana would not go away however as it kept inching its way back into the game. The Lions hits a three-pointer with four minutes to go to make it a three-point game at 66-63.
Down by two and less than a minute to go, the Lions had a chance to tie the game after forcing a Bobcat turnover, but the Lions mishandled the ball on their side of the court to give Texas State back the ball as their only choice left was to foul the Bobcats with time winding down.
Southeastern Louisiana made the first basket of the game, but Texas State responded with four points from Johnson and a pair of free throws from White to go up 6-2 on the Lions. Bishop scored the Bobcats next four points to help extend Texas State's lead to 10-6. The Lions went on an 8-0 run before a bucket by Johnson stopped Southeastern Louisiana's scoring stint. Both teams were trading baskets down the stretch, but Texas State was able to close in on Southeastern Louisiana's lead as it went into halftime down, 33-28. Johnson led the Bobcats with eight points and four rebounds.
Southeastern Louisiana's David Ndoumba tallied 12 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double. Trent Hutchin led the Lions with 15 points, while Jason Mark had 11 and DeShawn Patterson added 10.
