STOCKTON, Calif. – The Texas State men's basketball team defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff 71-54 Wednesday night in the Alex G. Spanos Center in both teams' second game of the Men Against Breast Cancer Showcase. Four Bobcats scored 10 or more points for the second straight game.
 
With the win, Texas State improved to 2-2 on the season while the Golden Lions remain winless at 0-6.
 
"It was a nice win for our team and everybody got to play. It is going to make Thanksgiving a little bit nicer," said head coach Danny Kaspar. "The one negative about tonight's game is that we fouled too much and they got a bunch of their points at the free throw line. We have to play defense without fouling."
 
A slow start from TXST saw UAPB jump out to a 6-2 lead a little over three minutes into the game. Tyler Blount nailed his first three-pointer of the game and a floater from Marlin Davis put the Bobcats in front for the first time in the game at 7-6 with 15:23 on the clock.
 
Two free throws from the Golden Lions' Martaveous McKnight on the next possession gave the lead right back. Blount answered with his second trey of the night to put give TXST the advantage again. A jumper from Trent Steen tied the contest at 10-10 with 14:14 left in the first half.
 
Immanuel King tipped in a missed bucket to put the Bobcats in the lead for the rest of game. UAPB was able to cut the lead to 14-13 after a Charles Jackson jumper but two free throws from Eric Terry and a jumper by Alex Peacock extended the advantage.
 
The Golden Lions were able to make it a two-point contest with 6:42 left in the half after a jumper from McKnight. Following back-to-back buckets from King, peacocks flew for the rest of the first half. The junior forward from Bloomington, Illinois scored 10 of the Bobcats' final 13 points of the period to send the Bobcats into halftime up 39-27.
 
After halftime, UAPB scored the first four points until Blount knocked down his third three-pointer of the game. That triple started an 11-4 run for TXST that was capped off with a jumper from Nedeljko Prijovic from the left elbow.
 
Isaiah Gurley made his lone three-point attempt of the game to give the Bobcats at 17-point lead at 53-36. It was the first of two times that the team lead by 17 with the second coming with six seconds left on the clock when Shelby Adams knocked down 3-of-4 free throws from a technical and flagrant foul on a UAPB player.
 
Blount scored a team-high 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting and was 4-for-6 from beyond the arc. The senior also tied his career-high with three assists, all coming in the first half.
 
Setting a new career best in points was Peacock with 12, all in the first 20 minutes. He was 5-for-8 from the field, 1-of-2 on long distance attempts and made his lone field goal attempts. The junior also finished with career-highs in assists (4) and rebounds (7).
 
"Tyler had a great shooting night for us. He was a key figure for us against their 2-3 zone," Kaspar said. "Alex came off the bench and I though he had a great game tonight with 12 points, seven rebounds and even four assists."
 
The third TXST player to set a new career-high in scoring was King with 14 points. The Rocky Mount, North Carolina native saw five of his eight shots fall and was 4-for-5 at the free throw line. He added six rebounds and blocked a shot for the eighth straight game.
 
Pearson was the fourth and final Bobcat to reach double-digits points with 10. He made 4-of-11 from the field and was 2-for-5 from beyond the arc. The sophomore also grabbed six rebounds and was one of five players to finish with a steal.
 
Dishing out a game-high five assists and not turning the ball over was Davis.
 
As a team, the Bobcats shot a season-high 49.0 percent (25-51) from the field and 42.1 percent (8-19) on three-pointers. They outrebounded UAPB 33-23 with a 13-7 advantage on the offensive glass. It was the fourth consecutive game that TXST outrebounded an opponent.
 
Next up for the Bobcats is Canisius at 10:30 p.m. CT in the second of three games this week as part of the Men Against Breast Cancer Showcase.
 
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 Instagram and Twitter at @TxStateMBB and like on Facebook at /TexasStateMensBasketball.