BOONE, N.C. – The weekend ended for the Texas State men's basketball team with a 72-61 loss at App State on Saturday from the Holmes Convocation Center.
 
With the result, the Bobcats drop to 8-7 overall while the Mountaineers are now 7-7. Both teams hold a 1-2 record in Sun Belt Conference play.
 
Tyrel Morgan led the way offensive for TXST with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting and going 3-for-3 at the free throw line. He also grabbed a team-high five rebounds and recorded two steals. Drue Drinnon added 11 points behind two made three-pointers and Tylan Pope went 4-for-8 from the field on his way to netting 10 points.
 
Coming off the bench, Dylan Dawson scored 14 points with nine coming in the second half. The fifth-year senior matched his season-high with four made treys.
 
Just missing reaching double figures was Joshua O'Garro. He scored eight points and led all players with three steals. His three assists on the afternoon were tied for the team lead with Kaden Gumbs.
 
As a team, TXST made eight three pointers for the third time this season. However, App State went 12-for-22 (54.5%) from beyond the arc with seven of its made threes being in the first 20 minutes of action.
 
For most of the first half it was a game of runs by both teams. The Mountaineers began with five straight points and the Bobcats responded with seven consecutive points of their own. App State followed with a 9-0 that saw TXST respond with five consecutive points capped off by an old-fashion three-point play by Pope that cut the deficit to 14-12.
 
A 10-0 run over a 2:52 span saw the hosts take a 12-point advantage. Drinnon ended the run by knocking down all three of his free throw attempts after being fouled on a long-distance shot.
 
Morgan scored five consecutive points including a three-pointer from the top of the arc to get the Bobcats to within 36-30 as 2:23 was left on the clock in the opening period. Only one more basket would be scored the rest of the half, which would come from Alonzo Dodd 51 seconds later.
 
App State opened the second half by scoring eight of the first 10 points, which extended its lead to 14. A double-digit lead would be maintained by the hosts for the rest of the contest.
 
Dawson connected on three consecutive three-point shots and Morgan was able to convert a layup despite a lot of contact to cut the deficit to 68-57 with 3:16 to play. The Bobcats were then held without a basket for two and a half minutes until Drinnon laid the ball in with less than a minute to play.
 
O'Garro capped off the scoring as he picked the pocket of Myles Tate and slammed the ball home.
 
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