SAN MARCOS, Texas – Trailing by 15 with just under 15 minutes left in the game, the Texas State men's basketball team (8-6, 1-1 Sun Belt) rallied for a 67-65 victory Saturday afternoon over South Alabama (9-4, 1-1 Sun Belt) in Strahan Arena.
 
DJ Hall led the team with 15 points on 5-of-5 shooting and went 5-for-5 at the free throw line. Mark Drone added 11 points, grabbed four rebounds and dished out three assists. Coming off the bench, Jalen Bolden chipped in 10 points, all in the second half, as he went 4-for-6 from the field including 2-of-3 on three-pointers.
 
Franck Emmou came off the bench to score all eight of his points in the final 20 minutes that included knocking down two big treys. Both Kyndall Davis and Kaden Gumbs scored eight points, as well. Davis also grabbed nine rebounds, tying for a game-high with Robert Fields, and recorded four steals.
 
The Bobcats outrebounded the Jaguars 44-28 with a 19-6 advantage on the offensive glass. That led to a 19-7 lead in second chance points for the hosts. Both teams attempted 22 free throws with Texas State making 20 compared to 14 for the visitors.
 
South Alabama jumped out to an early lead at 7-2. Drone scored five consecutive points in a 36-second span to tie the score. However, an 8-2 run for the visitors followed as they never trailed in the first half. The Jaguars would eventually stretch the advantage to 39-25 heading into halftime.
 
Chaze Harris converted an old-fashion three-point play to put South Alamba ahead 46-31 for its largest lead of the game.
 
Drone made a layup with 14:02 showing on the clock to kick start a 13-2 run for TXST. Bolden capped off the scoring stretch with the first of his two three-pointers on the night.
 
The Bobcats continued to slowly chip away at the deficit and eventually tied the game on a Bolden triple at the 3:46 mark. After Harris converted an and-1 opportunity, Drone hit a jumper after grabbing an offensive board. Emmou followed 57 seconds later with a deep three-pointer from straight away to give Texas State its first lead of the game at 61-59.
 
Gumbs converted two attempts at the charity stripe to extend the advantage to five points with 27 seconds remaining. Following a Harris putback bucket, Gumbs made a layup on an outlet pass on the ensuing inbound to make it a 67-62.
 
Adam Olsen hit a three-pointer the next time down the court to make it a one possession game. Gumbs would be fouled on the in-bound pass but missed the front end of the 1-and-1. Louis Jeune Hantz got a three-pointer off before the buzzer but it hit off the far side of the rim.
 
Next up for the Bobcats is a trip to Troy on New Year's Eve with tip-off scheduled for 1 p.m.
 
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