San Marcos, Texas – Texas State (13-16, 5-10 SLC) men's basketball dropped an 81-65 decision to visiting Lamar (19-11, 10-5 SLC) tonight. The Bobcats needed the win tonight to provide a little cushion to make it into the Southland Conference Tournament, but thanks to a few losses by some teams around the league the Bobcats will battle Sam Houston State on Saturday at home for the final spot in the tournament.

Junior forward Matt Staff registered his eighth double-double tonight, as he finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Senior guards John Bowman and Travis Jones each tallied 13 points apiece. The Bobcats shot 36.4 percent (24-for-66) from the floor and 85.7 percent (12-of-14) from the charity stripe.

Lamar led by as many as 20 points in the second half with 16:42 to go. A pair of free throws by Bowman with 14:29 to go paved the way for a run by the Bobcats. Staff scored on a layup, and then Bowman hit two more free throws followed by a layup to cut the Cardinals lead to 10 points. The Bobcats got it down to eight points on a dunk by Staff with 12:24 to go, but that would be the closest Texas State would get to Lamar. The Cardinals scored 20 of their last 26 points at the free throw line to come away with the road victory.  

The first half of the game saw both teams trading points for the first five minutes. Lamar was then able to take a double digit lead on a Mike James three-pointer that gave the Cardinals a 30-20 advantage. Lamar increased its lead to 44-27 on 55 percent shooting, as it entered the locker room on top at intermission.

Lamar was led in scoring by Anthony Miles who netted 25 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Devon Lamb was also effective with 18 points and 13 rebounds for a double-double. Charlie Harper came off the bench to score 11 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double, as well. The Cardinals shot 43.5 percent (27-for-62) from the floor and 78.6 percent (22-of-28) from the free throw line.

The Bobcats will host Sam Houston State on Mar. 3 at 4 p.m. Texas State will honor its three seniors: John Bowman, Travis Jones and Brooks Ybarra on Saturday for Senior Day.