PENSACOLA, Fla. – The Texas State men's basketball team battled for the entire game but came up short, 73-68, in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament semifinals to James Madison on Sunday night.
The Bobcats' season comes to a close with a 17-18 record while the Dukes are now 30-3 on the year.
Brandon Love scored a team-high 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting. He also grabbed four rebounds and recorded two steals.
Dontae Horne had another solid night off the bench with 15 points as he made 7-of-9 at the free throw line. The junior finished with a team best four assists as well. Davion Sykes contributed 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting, grabbed five rebounds and blocked a shot.
TXST blocked six shots on the night with half coming by Christian Turner. Leading the squad with six rebounds was Jordan Mason.
The Bobcats got out to a hot start making the first three baskets of the game for an early 6-0 lead. Four of the points came courtesy of Love.
They would maintain an advantage until the Dukes went on a 17-3 run to go up 26-15 with 6:55 left in the first half. Their largest advantage would come after a three-pointer by Xavier Brown at the 1:54 mark to give JMU a 15-point lead.
Coleton Benson would answer with a trey of his own as TXST closed the opening stanza on a 7-0 run. Capping off the scoring was Mason knocking down two free throws that made it a 37-29 deficit.
Having to sit for the final eight minutes of the first half after picking up his second foul, Love came out and scored the game's first five points of second half to get the Bobcats to within three.
The Dukes eventually stretched their advantage back to 10 at the 11:30 mark. Horne took over offensively as he scored six points of Texas State's 10-0 run that tie the score at 55-55 with 8:52 on the clock.
JMU scored five straight points to retake the lead for good although TXST did not give up. A three-point play by Horne with 28 ticks remaining pulled the Bobcats to within two. However, the Dukes sealed the game at the free throw line with six consecutive makes.
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