SAN MARCOS, Texas – For the second time this season, the Texas State men's basketball team (16-11, 8-6 Sun Belt) is on a five-game winning streak after defeating Troy (17-9, 9-4 Sun Belt) 74-62 Wednesday night to knock the Trojans out of the top spot in the Sun Belt Conference in front of a raucous 2,741 fans.
 
DJ Hall scored a team-high 21 on 9-of-15 shooting and a 3-for-4 performance at the free throw line. The freshman also grabbed six rebounds, handed out two assists and recorded two steals. Mark Drone also retrieved six boards while scoring 15 points after making 6-of-11 field goal attempts.
 
Also reaching double-figures was Kaden Gumbs with 11 points. He dished out a game-high four assists and both he and Jalen Bolden finished with three steals apiece.
 
In 17 minutes of action, Tay Knox totaled eight points as he made all four of his shot attempts. The Troy, Alabama also grabbed five rebounds with three coming on the offensive glass.
 
The Bobcats ended the game going 28-for-47 (59.6%) from the field and 16-for-19 (84.2%) at the charity stripe. They limited Troy to 36.2% shooting (17-for-47) that included going 8-for-27 (29.6%) on three-pointers.
 
Hall sparked Texas State offensively to begin the game as he made his first four shots of the contest to put TXST ahead 10-6. A three-pointer from Gumbs with 4:31 left in the first half gave the Bobcats their largest lead of the period at 11 points.
 
Troy was able to cut its deficit to five points with just over two minutes until half. The visitors would go scoreless the rest of the period while Robert Fields knocked down two free throws to send Texas State into the break leading 36-29.
 
Hall made three straight buckets for the Bobcats to put the team back in front by double-digits. His baskets also started a 14-4 run for TXST to extend the advantage to 17 points, the team's largest of the game.
 
The Trojans were able to cut their deficit to eight with 1:11 left on the clock. Gumbs would knock down two free throws and Hall put the game away with an old-fashion three-point play with 40 seconds to play.
 
Next up for the Bobcats is a meeting with ULM on Saturday at home with tip set for 2 p.m.
 
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