Despite a pair of season-best performances, a solid return by its preseason All-Sun Belt Conference forward and making 19 of its 26 free throws, the Texas State men's basketball team couldn't overcome a pair of decisive runs by UTEP as the Bobcats fell 77-62 in the Don Haskins Center on Saturday night.
 
"We had two periods in the game where we let it get away from us," said Texas State head coach Danny Kaspar. "The first was when it was 27-26 and the next thing you know it 37-30 at halftime. We make a great comeback and it is 44-41 with 15 minutes to go. Then, we missed some easy shots and slumped our shoulders. We let those missed shots affect other parts of our game, particularly defense."
                                                                      
Senior guard Ethan Montalvo scored a season high 16 points to lead the Bobcats, while senior forward Cameron Naylor added season-highs of 15 points and eight rebounds for Texas State. Preseason All-Conference forward Emani Gant also netted 11 points in his season debut after he sat out the UT Tyler game with an injury. Ojai Black also had a solid game at his point guard spot as he netted 10 points and handed out five assists with just two turnovers in 39 minutes.
 
"I was pleased with Emani's game considering the fact that he is not 100 percent and practiced only two days before playing in the game," said Kaspar. "We missed Anthony (Roberson) tonight defensively. I liked what I saw in Ojai and Ethan. Cam played well late in the game. but he has to come to play early."
 
The two teams fought back and forth early in the game as they battled to take control. Texas State jumped out to an early lead when Montalvo hit a three-pointer and Naylor added a jumper from the baseline. But, UTEP came right back and scored the next 10 points before Ojai Black scored four straight points with a jumper right wing and a lay-up.
 
UTEP held a 27-26 lead with five minutes to play in the first half before the Miners closed out the opening half with a 10-4 run to take a 37-30 lead into halftime.
 
Texas State came back in the second half after the Miners opened up a 38-30 lead on a free throw by Lee Moore. First, Naylor scored three-points on a dunk shot and free throw to ignite a rally. After Moore answered with a jumper in the lane, Naylor score four more points with a pair of free throws and a jumper, while Gant added a jumper in the lane to pull Texas State to within 44-41.
 
However, UTEP used a 14-2 spurt to open up a 58-43 lead with 9:14 left to play. Texas State scored the next 10 points as Montalvo capped the rally with another three-pointer to pull the Bobcats to within 61-56 with just under seven minutes left to play.
 
That was as close as Texas State was able to get because the Miners used 16-6 run to pull away and win the game by the final 77-62 margin.
 
"I want to give UTEP a lot of credit," said Kaspar. "In their previous two exhibition games and first regular season game, they shot 9 of 44 from the three-point line. Tonight they made 11 of 19 three-point shots. They have a great point guard in (Dominic) Artis and some great shooters. The one kid we couldn't prepare for was (Earvin) Morris because he hadn't played in any of the previous games. He was the big difference in the game."

Moore and Morris scored 17 points each to lead UTEP. They combined to make 6 of 10 three-point shots, and Jake Flaggert made three of his four three-point attempts to add nine points. Artis netted 11 points to go along with nine assists. Hooper Vint also finished in double figures with 10 points.
 
The loss drops Texas State's season record to 1-1, while the Miners improve to 2-0 with both victories coming in the Don Haskins Center.  The Bobcats return to action on Tuesday night when they host Oklahoma Panhandle State in an exhibition game that tips off at 7 p.m. in Strahan Coliseum.