SAN MARCOS, Texas – Junior Kaden Gumbs and freshman DJ Hall helped lead the Texas State men's basketball team (10-9, 3-4 Sun Belt) to a 59-54 victory Wednesday night in Strahan Arena over Louisiana (4-15, 2-5 Sun Belt). The duo combined to score 34 of the team's points in the ninth victory at home this season.
 
With Mark Drone out due to an injury, Gumbs stepped up and scored a season-high 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting that saw him knock down his lone three-point attempt. The San Marcos native also finished with two assists, two rebounds and two steals.
 
Hall recorded his second straight double-double and sixth of the season with 16 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. From the field, he made 7-of-15 shot attempts while also dishing out two assists.
 
Coming off the bench, Franck Emmou connected on 4-of-8 shot attempts and went 2-for-2 from beyond the arc to total 12 points. Robert Fields added seven points, all in the second half, and retrieved five boards.
 
The Bobcats shot 25-of-50 (50.0%) from the field and were 3-for-7 on three-pointers. They also held a 34-24 advantage on the glass and outscored the Ragin' Cajuns 38-16 in the paint.
 
Just once in the first half did Louisiana hold the lead with that coming at 2-1 just over 94 seconds into the contest. Texas State held the visitors scoreless for the next four minutes but only managed to score six points in that time.
 
Four straight points by the Cajuns tied the game at 9-9 on a De'Vion Lavergne layup. The Bobcats responded with an 11-3 run over the next 6:19 that began with Jalen Bolden tipping in a missed shot.
 
Emmou made his first trey of the game with 4:50 showing in the opening half that put TXST up by double-digits. A made hook shot from Tay Knox with just over three minutes left in the period to extend the lead to 29-16, the largest of the game for Texas State.
 
Louisiana held the Bobcats scoreless for the rest of the half while scoring six points to cut its deficit to seven entering halftime.
 
The second half began with back-to-back layups from Gumbs and Hall in the first 52 seconds that forced the Cajuns to call a timeout. Louisiana came out of the break and went on a 15-3 run over the next 6:27 to take its second lead of the game at 37-36.
 
It was just a short advantage for the visitors as Hall and Fields made layups to put Texas State back in front. After two free throws from Dorian Finister made it a one-point contest, the Bobcats scored the next nine points to retake a double-digit lead.
 
The teams traded buckets until Louisiana netted six straight points with less than two minutes to play. Capping it off was a trey from Milan Mejia that made it a one-possession game. Texas State would force a turnover that led to a dunk by Fields and a tough three-point attempt which turned into a dunk by Gumbs with 15 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
 
Next up for the Bobcats is a rematch with Southern Miss on Saturday at home with tip set for 3:30 p.m.
 
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