Lamar survives second half rally by Texas State to come away with a hard fought win on the road
Lamar (11-7, 2-3) came out in the early going with good intensity Saturday afternoon in San Marcos as they took on Texas State (8-10, 1-4). The Cardinals jumped out in front by a score of 18-12 after going on a 11-2 run early in the first half and used a solid effort the rest of the way to come away with a 71-65 win in Southland Conference action.
Texas State got out to an 8-4 lead early in the game but struggled to put up points as the first half continued and with just under two minutes left in the first half the Cardinals had managed to build a 38-24 lead. The Bobcats cut into the lead before halftime as they pulled back to within 10 leaving the score at 38-28 at the intermission.
Texas State came out and matched to Cardinals intensity in the second half to keep the game close and by the 11:16 mark they had fought back to trial by a score of 55-49. John Rybak drained a three-pointer to spark the 7-0 Bobcat run which pulled them to within six.
Just when the Bobcats found themselves in a position to make a run they went cold from the field once again. They misfired on six straight shots while Lamar built a double digit lead at 61-51 by connecting on 4-of-6 free throws.
Texas State was not ready to let this one get away just yet as Rybak once again rose to the occassion for the Bobcats. He came up big when he sank a three-pointer and Brandon Bush added a free throw to pull Texas State to within five at 62-57.But in the end, the on again - off again shooting of the Bobcats would spell their demise as they misfired on a couple of three-point attempts and Lamar converted their free throws to secure the 71-65 win for the Cardinals.
Cameron Johnson had a double-double for Texas State scoring 19 points and pulling down 13 rebounds. John Rybak tallied 13 points to go along with 3 steals and 6 rebounds.
Lamar was led by Jay Brown with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Teammate Ashton Hall finished with 13 points and Brandon McThay scored 14.
