DJ Hall scored 24 Points as the Texas State Bobcats (18-11, 10-6 SBC) winning streak extended to seven games with a 90-82 overtime win over the South Alabama Jaguars (19-9, 9-6 SBC) Thursday night in the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Ala.
In what was his third consecutive 20-point performance, Hall shot 8-16 from the field and 8-10 from the free throw line.
Fellow freshman Robert Fields came off the bench as a spark, scoring a career high of 15 on a perfect 4-4 from the field and making 7-10 attempts at the free throw line. The pair also grabbed eight rebounds apiece.
Sophomore guard Franck Emmou also had a good night, scoring a season high of 17 points behind a 5-8 three-point shooting, all within the last 12:35 minutes of the game.
Senior guard Mark Drone commanded the Bobcats’ offense, dropping 11 points while tying a career high with eight assists and seven rebounds.
Despite a hot start from the Jaguars, Texas State came storming back and eventually went on a 13-2 run over a nearly five-minute span to go up over the Jaguars 25-14.
The Bobcats took a 12-point lead 38-26, which South Alabama responded by ending the half on a 7-2 run over the final 1:47 as the Bobcats took a 40-33 lead into halftime.
After the Jaguars made a layup on the opening possession of the second half, Gumbs would score a quick jumper with Hall finishing with a dunk after a steal to put the Bobcats ahead of the Jaguars 44-35. Over the next 5:37, South Alabama scored 15 consecutive points to go up by six.
After a Bobcat timeout, Emmou made back-to-back three-pointers to tie the game at 50 apiece. He would make his third three to start a quick 8-0 run over a 1:12 minute span to give Texas State a 64-58 lead.
The Jaguars clawed back to tie the game at 65 with 4:20 left to play. Hall scored four straight points, followed by Fields scoring four straight points for the Bobcats to put them up six points.
However, an 8-2 run over the final 1:47 would see South Alabama tie the game at 75-75 following a deep three-pointer from Jayden Cooper with nine seconds remaining. The Bobcats turned the ball over and a last-second shot from midcourt by Adam Olsen missed to send the game to overtime.
To start overtime, senior guard Jalen Bolden made a putback layup and Emmou continued to get to his spot to knock down his fourth shot from three to kickstart the scoring.
It was a back-and-forth until Emmou’s final three-pointer of the game with 1:20 left put enough seperation between the two contending squads, ultimatly sinking the dagger to end the Jaguars’ chances of a comeback victory.
Texas State now sits in the top four of the Sun Belt Conference standings with two games to go on the schedule, with the regular season conference championship still in play.
The Bobcats will play their final road game of the season this weekend when they travel to take on the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns on Saturday, with tipoff set for 12 p.m. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+.
