Texas State uses strong second half to lead the way in big conference win over UTSA
Texas State secured a spot in the Southland Conference tournament with their win over UTSA Wednesday night. With an excited and loud crowd behind them, Seniors Brandon Bush and Brent Benson played their last home game as they combined for 47 points at Strahan Coliseum in helping the Bobcats secure their spot in next weeks conference tournament with the 80-66 win.
UTSA jumped out to an early lead when they went out in front by a score of 9-4 and after a Devin Gipson put back off an offensive rebound with just over 10 minutes to play, the Roadrunners extended their lead to double digits as they built their lead up to 24-14.
Facing a 10 point deficit, Texas State put together a run of their own as they out scored UTSA 13-2 with Corey Jefferson leading the way with his six points during the Bobcats run. A John Bowman jumper capped the run as the UTSA lead was all the way down to two at 27-25
.In the third quarter UTSA found themselves fighting back from behind and were in a position to cut into the 46-39 lead when Brandon Bush was called for his third foul and had to take a seat. Any hopes of UTSA claiming the lead became slim when Devin Gipson sank two free throws and Benson contributed several points to move the Texas State lead to 54-43 with just over 11 minutes to play.
Bush returned a couple of minutes later and the Bobcats continued their outstanding play in the second half to build a 69-55 lead with under five minutes to play and by the 1:13 mark the lead was out to 78-61. As the final buzzer sounded, the 80-66 Bobcats win had cemented their chance at a 2009 Southland Conference title that will ultimately be decided at next weeks conference tournament in Katy.
