SAN MARCOS, Texas – A slow start offensively put the Texas State men's basketball team in a hole early, but the team held firm defensively and used a large run to defeat Oklahoma Panhandle State Thursday night in Strahan Coliseum 75-44. All 13 players that saw the floor for the maroon and gold found their name in the scoring column.
 
The Bobcats won their second straight to improve to 4-3 on the season. The Aggies remain 3-2 as the game was an exhibition contest for them.



OPSU jumped out to a 9-2 lead nearly four minutes into the game as Texas State was unable to connect on multiple shot attempts. The lone points for the Bobcats was a jumper in the paint by Maljhum McCrea.
 
Texas State found a small rhythm offensively and went on an 8-0 run. A tip-in by Nijal Pearson capped the scoring streak and gave the team its first lead of the game at the 12:01 mark.
 
After the Aggies came back and took a 21-18 lead, the Bobcats scored eight straight to go up by five. OPSU answered back with a rare four-point play to pull to within one. Texas State responded by scoring the final nine points of the period to take a 35-25 advantage into halftime.
 
In the second half, the Bobcats increased their lead to 16 after a jumper by Marlin Davis. The Aggies' Sita Seasy converted a layup with 16:23 left in the game to make it 43-29 in favor of Texas State. Those would be the last points for the visitors for the next 7:21 as the Bobcats went on a 20-0 run. Pacing the team with six points during the spurt thanks to two made three-pointers was Nathan Josephs.
 
For the second game in-a-row, Pearson filled up the stat sheet. The freshman scored a game-high 15 points, grabbed eight rebounds, handed out five assists and was credited with two steals.
 
McCrea was the only other Texas State player to total double-digit points with a season-high 10 on 5-of-8 shooting. He also grabbed four boards and had a steal. Bobby Conley finished with seven points, three boards and three assists. He also matched his career-high of three steals for the second straight contest.
 
As a team, the Bobcats shot 43.1 percent from the field but converted only 20.8 percent of their three-pointers (5-for-24) and 53.3 percent at the free throw line (8-of-15). Texas State did outrebound the Aggies 51-30, outscored them 50-20 in the paint and forced 20 turnovers with 11 being the result of a steal.
 
Next for the Bobcats is a trip to Edinburg, Texas to take on UT Rio Grande Valley on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
 
For the latest on Texas State men's basketball, visit the official website of Texas State athletics at www.txstatebobcats.com, follow the team on Twitter at @TxStateMBB, Instagram at @TxStateMBB and like on Facebook at /TexasStateMensBasketball.