USAFA, Colo. – Texas State (1-1) dropped its first contest of the 2019-20 season as Air Force (1-1) held on for a 78-71 victory on Saturday afternoon at Clune Arena. Senior guard Nijal Pearson finished with 14 points and his one 3-point field goal made him the program's all-time leader with 178 career made triples.
 
"The guys fought to the end tonight and I can appreciate that," said head coach Danny Kaspar. "At the same time, our defense was subpar, and we shot poorly from the 3-point and free throw lines. We cannot give up 43 points in a half and shoot like we did tonight and expect to win."
 
BOBCAT NUMBERS
• Texas State and Air Force had a similar shooting percentage from the field with the Falcons finishing at 46.0 percent (22-of-48) and the Bobcats at 45.0 percent (29-of-64). The difference, however, came at the 3-point line where TXST shot 17.0 percent (3-of-18) to AF's 46.0 percent (12-of-26). The Bobcats also shot 50.0 percent at the free throw line (10-of-20).
• Sophomore guard Mason Harrell led the Bobcats with a career-high 15 points (6-of-10) and added two rebounds and one assist.
• In addition to his 14 points (6-of-16), Pearson finished with four rebounds and one assist, block, and steal.
• Junior guard Marlin Davis rounded out the Bobcats top scorers with 11 points (5-of-11) and recorded four assists, three rebounds, and two steals. His assists and steals were a game-high.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
• After shooting 1-of-11 from 3-point range in its season opener, Air Force connected on five triples and had 10 field goals on eight assists in the first half.
• The Bobcats trailed by as many as nine points in the opening stanza (19-10) but a late 7-0 run buffered by three forced turnovers in two minutes cut the deficit 24-22.
• The Falcons ended the half on a 6-2 run to take a 35-30 lead into the locker room, but Harrell led all scorers with 11 points highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers.
• Texas State came out of halftime slow as Air Force opened with an 11-2 run highlighted by a 9-0 burst to take a 46-32 lead which was its largest of the game.
• At 11:53 with AF up 55-43, junior forward Quentin Scott scored a pair of second-chance baskets to spark an 8-0 run to help trim the Falcons' lead to four, 55-51.
• The Falcons continued to stretch its lead to nine points and after the Bobcats final push, the home team sealed the game essentially with 3-point field goals from sophomore guard AJ Walker and senior guard Sid Tomes. AF also went 4-of-4 at the free throw line in the final two minutes to seal the game 78-71.
• Four Air Force players finished in double-figure scoring including Tomes' game-high 19 points. Senior forward Lavelle Scottie scored 15 points, Walker had 12, and junior guard Chris Joyce added 11 points.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Air Force won the rebounding battle 38-33. Texas State won on the offensive glass 10-8 that led to seven points.
• The Bobcats dominated in the paint and outscored the Falcons 46-18, and the bench outplayed the home team's bench 27-12.
• After struggling in the first half with just four points on 2-of-7 shooting, Pearson turned in 10 points in the second half and made his single 3-pointer of the game (1-of-6) to reach No. 178.
• Air Force takes a 2-1 lead in the all-time series with both wins coming at Clune Arena.
• The Bobcats are now 1-6 in road openers under Kaspar.
 
UP NEXT
Texas State returns home to play Prairie View A&M in their second mid-week game of the season at 7 p.m. Nov. 12 in San Marcos, Texas.
 
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