SAN MARCOS, Texas – Despite a season-high 50 rebounds, 20 offensive rebounds, and holding the lead for roughly 30 minutes, Texas State was upset by Our Lady of the Lake, 61-58 Saturday evening at Strahan Arena.
The end of the halves plagued the Bobcats (3-3) as they saw a first-half 10-point lead disappear behind the Saints (0-1) 11-0 run, and then again, a Bobcat 11-point lead erased by a 23-9 run over the final nine minutes of the game that resulted in the setback. OLLU shot 42.9 percent from the floor (24-of-56), 40.0 percent from 3-point range (6-of-15), but the Bobcats shot 34.8 percent from the floor (23-of-66), matched a season-low 18.2 percent from behind-the-arc (4-of-22), and set a new season-low 50.0 percent from the free-throw line.
"That was not very fun," said interim head coach Terrence Johnson. "But, as I said after the Texas game, I believe that you can lose or you can learn. This is a classic example that vs. Texas, we lost. But we did not learn. We are hopeful that we do not need any more lessons after today. Basketball is just like life. It is a transition sport. You will have peaks and valleys and they will come much quicker than you will expect and you will not make every shot. But it is about making decisions and tonight, we did not make the right decisions. Coach Dial did a great job with having his guys confident and ready to play. But I thought we settled and I thought we did not expect for them to continue to fight."
Junior guard Mason Harrell led the team with 13 points (5-of-14) and five rebounds, followed by double-doubles from junior forward Alonzo Sule (12 points, 11 rebounds) and senior forward Isiah Small (11 points, 11 rebounds). Junior forward Quentin Scott was one point shy of a double-double with season-highs of nine points and 10 rebounds (rebounds are a career-high).
Junior forward Ruben Monzon led all players with his double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds. He also had two assists and drew 10 fouls in the game. Senior guard Lennox Jones Jr. followed with 12 points and added three rebounds, three steals, and two assists.
FIRST HALF
Both teams started slow offensively, but the Bobcats were able to jump out to an 8-2 lead thanks to a 6-0 run while the Saints shot 1-of-8 in the first five minutes of the game. The visiting team stormed back though and knocked down three triples, to take an 11-10 advantage by the next media timeout. Moments later, Scott nailed a corner 3-pointer to put the Bobcats back on top 14-11 and went on a 10-2 run to push the lead to double figures, 30-20. The Saints dominated the end of the half however and took a 31-30 lead into the break behind an 11-0 run. Scott led the team with nine points on 3-of-4 shooting, including a pair of 3-point field goals. OLLU's Monzon led all players with 14 points (6-of-10) and matched Small with a game-high six rebounds.
SECOND HALF
OLLU scored the first two points of the half to extend its lead to 33-30 and run to 13-0 before Harrell ended it with two made free-throws. Seconds later, Small went on a personal 6-0 run which sparked 11 unanswered points to give the Cats a 43-35 lead with the clock reading 13:46. Texas State extended its lead 49-38 behind a 6-0 run, but Our Lady of the Lake responded with a 7-0 run of its own that developed into a 15-2 run and regained the lead 53-51. Both teams exchanged buckets to a 55-55 tie, but the Saints scored four of the last five points to make the game 59-56 with less than a minute left to play. Small had a second-chance basket to fall to cut the Saint's lead to one (59-58) with 35 seconds left. OLLU left the door open by missing two 1-and-1 opportunities, however, the Bobcats could not capitalize, and on their final inbounds play with eight seconds remaining, junior guard Caleb Asberry's pass was deflected and senior guard Ethan White gained possession for the Saints and knocked down both free throws to essentially end the game, 61-58.
NOTABLES
• Texas State outscored OLLU in the paint 36-32, and on second-chance points (15-10).
• Texas State logged a season-high 19 turnovers in the game.
• OLLU had 14 turnovers in the game but outscored the Bobcats in points off of turnovers 25-17. They also outscored TXST in bench points, 23-18.
• The game featured seven lead changes and five ties.
• OLLU led for only five minutes and 18 seconds.
• The last time the Bobcats recorded 50 rebounds was in the triple-overtime 87-85 win at UT Arlington last year (56, Feb. 28, 2020).
• Mason Harrell extends his streak to six games scoring 10 or more points.
• The last time two players recorded a double-double was at UT Arlington on Feb. 28, 2020 (Nijal Pearson, 24 points, 15 rebounds), Marlin Davis (14 points, 10 assists).
• The last time two or more players had 10 or more rebounds in a game was at Prairie View A&M on Dec. 16, 2015 (Anthony Roberson, 12, and Emani Gant, 11).
• The Bobcats are 0-2 all-time vs. Our Lady of the Lake.
UP NEXT
The Bobcats will conclude the home portion of its non-conference schedule with a 7 p.m. rematch against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Tuesday, Dec. 15 at Strahan Arena.
Stay updated on everything Texas State men's basketball by following the team on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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