HOUSTON – A furious comeback in the final two minutes by Texas State (6-5) came up short as it fell to Rice (4-6) on Wednesday night, 77-72, at Tudor Fieldhouse.
 
Mark Drone led all players with a season-high 23 points, 10 of which came in the final 1:40 minutes of the game. The senior made 8-fo-16 shots and went 6-for-7 at the free throw line.
 
Recording his second straight double-double and fourth of the season was DJ Hall with 12 points and 12 rebounds. He also dished out three assists, blocked a shot and recorded a steal.
 
Coming off the bench, Kyndall Davis scored 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting that saw him make 2-of-3 attempts from beyond the arc. Dimp Pernell added 10 points with a 4-for-7 night from the field.
 
Over the first 15-plus minutes of the game, it was a close contest as neither team led by more than four points. The Owls would take command over the last 4:18 of the opening stanza with an 11-3 run that was capped off by a three-pointer just before the halftime buzzer by Cam Carroll.
 
Rice also dominated on the boards in the first 20 minutes with a 22-10 advantage including 11-4 on the offensive glass. The hosts used that advantage to score 16 second chance points with 12 coming in the first eight minutes of action.
 
The Bobcats came out of halftime locking down the Owls defensively as they limited them to only two made baskets in the first nine minutes of the period. Offensively, TXST had scoring runs of nine and 11 points on the way to outscore Rice 23-5 in that time to take a 51-45 lead.
 
Coming out of the under 12-minute media timeout, momentum swung to the Owls. They would put together three runs of at least five points over the rest of the contest.
 
With 1:40 left in the game, Drone converted an old-fashion three-point play. Nearly 50 seconds later saw the senior guard convert another and-1 opportunity to cut the deficit to 70-68.
 
Drone would knock down four free throws while the Owls made one to make it a 73-72 contest in favor of the hosts. After Jalen Smith made two attempts at the charity stripe, Drone saw his three-pointer from the top of the arc be off target with 1.5 seconds left to seal Rice's victory.
 
Next up for the Bobcats is the first of three consecutive home games that begins with Southern next Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
 
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