Box Score


San Marcos, Texas – Despite coming out red hot after halftime, the Texas State men's basketball team was unable to keep the lead, falling 51-50 to Western Kentucky, Thursday night at Strahan Coliseum.

Joel Wright had the ball with under 10 seconds to go, with the Bobcats down by one. Coming on the heels of two successful trips to the lane in which he was able to get to the free throw line, Wright drove again and went to lay it in, but the shot was short and the Bobcats fell by one for the third time this season.

Texas State went on a 10-0 run in the first half to take an 11-7 lead. Joel Wright scored six of the team's points in the stretch and Naiel Smith capped the run by getting a steal and taking it end-to-end for a fastbreak layup.

Right before halftime with the score tied at 22-22, Phil Hawkins got the ball on the right wing and drove to the basket, hitting a runner with 0.4 seconds to go in the half. Hawkins was fouled on the play and made the ensuing free throw to give Texas State a 25-22 lead at halftime.

Texas State began the second half with a highlight reel play. Wright stole the ball under the basket and sent a pass to Gordon Ball who brought it in with his fingertips. Ball then dropped it off to Wes Davis who laid it in for a 29-22 advantage. It was part of a 9-0 run to begin the period for the Bobcats, who eventually took a 36-24 lead. Western Kentucky did not score in the second half until the 15:00 mark.

Western Kentucky responded with a 21-8 run to take a 45-44 lead with 4:18 to go. Leading scorer T.J. Price scored all 11 of his points in the second half, going 5-of-9 from the field during that time.

Texas State will be back in action on Saturday, March 1 for Senior Day against Georgia State at Strahan Coliseum. Tip time is set for 4:35 p.m. Saturday's game can be seen on the CW Austin in Austin and heard on 89.9 FM KTSW in San Marcos as well as www.txstatebobcats.com.