PENSACOLA, Fla. – A tough defensive battle ended with Texas State falling to Old Dominion on a late three-pointer in the third round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament from the Pensacola Bay Center.
 
With the result, the Bobcats end their season at 16-16 while the Monarchs are now 14-19 and will face App State in the fourth round of the conference championship.
 
Tylan Pope led TXST with 15 points, 10 of which came in the second half. Joshua O'Garro finished with an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double. Also in double figures was Kaden Gumbs, who totaled 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
 
While limited to just five points, Tyrel Morgan did record eight rebounds, four steals and three blocks. Both Coleton Benson and Mark Drone added seven points off the bench while Austin Green and Drone finished with three steals apiece. Benson set a new career-high with seven rebounds.
 
It was the Sean Durugordon show early on as he scored 15 points in the first 8:20 minutes of the game. His performance allowed the Monarchs to jump out to a 19-7 lead.
 
The Bobcats chipped away and got within one after scoring nine straight points. Capping off the scoring stretch were back-to-back three-pointers from Joshua O'Garro and Coleton Benson, respectively.
 
After Robert Davis, Jr. made three free throws with 4:15 remaining on the clock, ODU would go scoreless the rest of the first half. Back-to-back layups from Kaden Gumbs tied the game at 27-27. With 1.8 seconds left in the period, O'Garro was fouled and made both charity stripe shots to give TXST its first lead of the game.
 
Three straight treys by Davis gave the Monarchs are seven-point lead just over four minutes into the second half. Again, the Bobcats chipped away and eventually scored nine straight points to lead 50-45 just over halfway through the period.
 
Kaden Gumbs converted a layup with 5:33 left in the game to put the Bobcats ahead 57-51. It would be their largest lead of the game.
 
Six consecutive points by ODU tied the game with three minutes play but O'Garro tipped in his own miss to put TXST back ahead by two the next time down the court. After three-point play by the Monarchs with 2:15 to go to put them up 60-59, neither team would score again until Durugodron made a free throw with 14 seconds remaining.
 
Benson would be fouled off the ball six seconds later. The junior made both ends of the one-and-one to tie the game at 61-61.
 
A three-pointer by Davis with just over a second remaining appeared to be the dagger. However, TXST would have one last chance to tie the contest. The inbound pass to Christian Turner near midcourt saw him put up a last second heave that was off the mark but he was fouled on the attempt. Unfortunately, none of his free throw attempts fell. Morgan was able to grab the offensive board. He put up a last second desperation shot and hoped for a foul but the ball bounced off the rim and no whistle came as the final horn sounded.
 
Stay up to date on everything Texas State men's basketball by following the team on Facebook,  Twitter, and Instagram.