SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State men's basketball team earned a 67-57 victory over Air Force to kickoff the 2018-19 campaign Friday night inside Strahan Arena.
 
The Bobcats (1-0) won their season opener for the fourth time in the last five years, while also avenging a loss to the Falcons (1-1) from a year ago in the first meeting between the two programs. The game was played in front of 4,058 fans, which was the second largest home-opening crowd in school history.
 
Junior Nijal Pearson led all scorers with 21 points. His final bucket of the contest came at the 6:46 mark of the second half and gave him exactly 1,000 for his two-plus seasons donning the maroon and gold. He became the 22nd player in school history to ascend into quadruple-digit territory. Senior Alex Peacock netted 14 points, while junior Jaylen Shead added 11 in his first game for the Bobcats.
 
Texas State shot 47.1 percent (24-for-51) from the field, 47.1 percent (8-for-17) from behind the 3-point line and 61.1 percent (11-for-18) at the free-throw line.
 
Ameka Akaya, Lavelle Scottie, Sid Tomes and Ryan Swan all scored 11 points for Air Force. The visitors shot 41.3 percent (19-for-46) overall, 30.8 percent (8-for-26) from distance and 73.3 percent (11-for-15) at the charity stripe.
 
The Falcons outrebounded the Bobcats 35-28, but Texas State led in assists (19-14), blocks (4-2), steals (9-2), and fewer turnovers (10-17).
 
Neither team could find breathing room beyond a three-point cushion through any of the first three media timeouts. A fast-break dunk from sophomore Quentin Scott at the 6:19 mark of the opening half gave the Bobcats an 18-13 edge. That sparked a Texas State run that saw the advantage swell to 10 points at 25-15. The double-digit margin remained all the way until the maroon and gold headed into the break on top 32-22.
 
TXST was able to push its lead out to 13 points in the early stages of the second half, but Air Force fought back to within 40-35 at the 12:49 mark. A 16-7 run from the maroon and gold reenergized the crowd and gave the Bobcats a 56-42 advantage with eight minutes to play. From that point on, TXST was able to fend off any sort of meaningful rally from the visitors. The Falcons never got closer than five points.
 
Texas State led the night in points in the paint (28-18), points off turnovers (25-5), and fast-break points (11-0).
 
The maroon and gold will remain at home for the first game of the Portland Classic. The Bobcats will play host to Hardin-Simmons at 6 p.m. Nov. 13.
 
-- TXSTATEBOBCATS.COM --