The men’s basketball team beat Coastal Carolina 73-66 in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament Wednesday, March 7, at the Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana.
The ninth seed Bobcats headed into the conference tournament from a nine-game losing streak.
The victory brings the Bobcats’ overall record to 15-17. The eliminated eighth seed Chanticleers end their season with a record of 14-18.
Coastal Carolina put five consecutive points on the board to open the first period. The first basket from Texas State came from Nijal Pearson, sophomore guard, who scored a team high of 20 points.
Texas State’s Tyler Blount, senior guard, knocked down a three, but Coastal Carolina’s Josh Coleman, countered with a layup making the score 10-13.
The Bobcats then scored seven consecutive points and led the Chanticleers 17-13 with 10:11 left in the half.
Coastal Carolina answered back with a layup to shorten the gap 17-15.
Both teams were neck and neck with five minutes left until halftime. Coastal Carolina led by one when Tyrell Gumbsfrater shot a three pointer at the 4:32 mark. The Bobcats’ defense held its own for the rest of the half to ultimately take a 32-28 lead heading into the break.
The second period saw the Bobcats take a 10-point lead with 15:52 left on the clock.
The Bobcats did not give their opponent the opportunity to take the lead for the remainder of the game.
The second period lead scorer was Tre Nottingham, junior guard. He had 10 points and went 7-8 on the line.
The final score at the Lakefront Arena was 73-66.
Top scorers for the Bobcats included Pearson with 20 points, Eric Terry, redshirt sophomore, with 16 points and Blount with 14 points.
Both Pearson and Peacock led the team in rebounds with eight, followed by Immanuel King, senior forward, with six.
Texas State went 22-of-26 from the line to 11-of-14 for Coastal Carolina.
The Bobcats move on to the quarter finals Friday, March 9, to compete against the University of Louisiana Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns at the Lakefront Arena.