SAN MARCOS, Texas – In the regular season finale, Texas State (19-12, 11-7 Sun Belt) rallied late to defeat App State (19-12, 11-7 Sun Belt) 60-57 Friday night in Strahan Arena in front of a hyped crowd of 4,054 fans. The victory was the Bobcats' single season record 16th home victory of the year.
 
With the win and other results from around the Sun Belt Conference, Texas State finished in a six-way tie for second place.
 
Mark Drone scored a game-high 23 points on 9-of-18 shooting. He also finished with four assists, three rebounds and two steals. DJ Hall recorded his eighth double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds while adding three assists.
 
Also finishing in double figures was Kyndall Davis with 12 points. The senior made 4-of-6 shots and went 1-for-2 on three-pointers. The Chicago native also grabbed five boards and recorded three steals.
 
The only other TXST players to score on the night were Makai Willis and Jalen Bolden with six and five points, respectively, off the bench.
 
On the opening possession of the game, Drone knocked down a jumper. That would be the last points for Texas State for the next 4:20 minutes as the Mountaineers scored 11 straight points.
 
The Bobcats would start to chip away at the deficit and eventually tied the game at 23-23 on a jumper from Hall.
 
App State responded by scoring six of the next eight points to go back up by four. TXST answered with a 9-2 run that was capped off by a trey from Bolden with 35 seconds to go in the first half. Two free throws from Luke Wilson with 0.7 seconds on the clock sent the game into halftime with Texas State leading 34-33.
 
The visitors retook the lead early in the second half but nine straight points from the Bobcats saw them take a 45-39 advantage following a mid-ranger jumper from Davis. The Mountaineers would again take the lead with just under eight minutes to play and went up by four on a three-pointer from Jalen Tot with 5:08 to play.
 
Over the last five minutes of the contest, TXST held the visitors to just one basket. In that time, the Bobcats scored nine points. Drone put the team in front for good with a short jumper with 1:18 to play. He would seal the game with two free throws as 1.8 seconds showed on the clock.
 
Next up for TXST is the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in Pensacola, Florida with the seeding to be announced.
 
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