Mark Drone led the Bobcats (15-11, 7-6) with 20 points, 14 of which came in the second half to beat the Western Michigan Broncos (8-15, 2-8) 77-61 in the MAC-SBC challenge on Saturday afternoon.
“I knew that by making the right reads first, it was going to open up my opportunities,” Drone said.
Drone finished the game with three assists and zero turnovers, a reflection of that excellent decision-making.
The win marked the fourth straight victory for the Bobcats.
“We’re starting to connect,” Texas State head coach Terrence Johnson said. “You’re looking at, you know, months and months of work, and winning kind of becoming a byproduct.”
All nine Bobcats that saw action scored, and they combined to shoot a sizzling 54% from the floor and held Western Michigan to just 41% shooting.
Freshman forward DJ Hall and junior guard Kaden Gumbs scored in double figures, with Hall going a perfect 2-2 from three and Gumbs shooting a strong 3-6 from deep.
The Bobcats got off to a slow start, playing from behind until Franck Emmou came off the bench and knocked down a three to give them a 16-15 lead with 10:53 left in the first half. A lead the Bobcats would not relinquish.
After Western Michigan cut the Bobcats lead to five points at the 13:42 mark in the second half, Bolden came off the bench and hit a deep two to stop the Broncos 6-0 run. Bolden hit a three-pointer two possessions later to push the Bobcats lead back to 9 points with 11:08 remaining in the game.
Texas State kept their foot on the gas during the second half, scoring 41 points. The Bobcats overall also had a strong half, shooting 60 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point range. Though the Broncos had a strong scoring half at 36 points, Texas State pulled away at the end of the half, finishing the game on a 16-4 run.
Gumbs was a big part of the three-point barrage, making 3/6 from beyond the arc and finishing with 15 points. Gumbs also added a steal to his season total of 53, which leads the Sun Belt Conference.
Western Michigan wouldn’t go quietly though, cutting the Bobcats lead to four with 5:08 remaining in the game.
“We were just in this situation at Georgia Southern,” Johnson said. “We almost tried to give that game away, so, you know, I reminded them we were just here. And we said we weren’t going to put ourselves in that position anymore, so what are you going to do about it?”
The Bobcats went on a 16-4 run to end the game with Drone and Gumbs combining to score 11 of those 16 points.
The attendance of 2,774 was the most this season at Strahan Arena.
“Oh it felt great, like knowing that we would have a lot of fans and the fans would be involved in the game,” Drone said. “We love when the gym is packed like that.”.
With the win, the Bobcats are tied for fifth in the Sun Belt Conference. Texas State, now 13-1 at home, will look to continue their four-game win streak and dominating home advantage against the No.1 team in the SBC, the Troy Trojans at Strahan Arena.
The Bobcats will host the Trojans at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11, at Strahan Arena. The Trojans beat the Bobcats 100-80 in Troy on December 31st. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.
