Bobcats Escape Trojans Following Peacock’s Last Second Layup

Next up for TXST is a trip to Arkansas State on Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Junior forward Alex Peacock grabbed the biggest offensive board of his Texas State men’s basketball career to date and laid it back in for the game-winning bucket with four seconds left on the clock to give the Bobcats a 57-56 win over Troy Saturday evening in Strahan Coliseum.

The win improved TXST to 10-7 on the season and 3-1 in the Sun Belt Conference while the Trojans drop to 7-10 overall and 1-3 in conference play. The Bobcats extended their home SBC and overall winning streaks to seven and three games, respectively, while also improving to 7-0 this season when holding an opponent to below 60 points.

Peacock continued his hot streak from three-point land as he knocked down his first of two triples in the game at the 17:58 mark to give TXST its first lead of the game at 5-4. Tyler Blount and Nijal Pearson scored on consecutive possessions to extend the lead to 9-6 three minutes into the contest.

Five quick points from Troy put the Bobcats down again when the injury bug bit Marlin Davis with a knee injury. His replacement, Tre’Larenz Nottingham, came on and knocked down a trey following a free throw from Peacock. Those four points started a 10-0 run for TXST that was capped off by a jumper by the left elbow courtesy of Nedeljko Prijovic.

The Trojans answered back with a 10-2 scoring burst over a three-minute span to cut the advantage to 28-26. The only points by the Bobcats came on a Tyler Blount jumper after Immanuel King’s 50th career blocked shot.

In a 65 second span, the Bobcats made back-to-back-to-back three-pointers from Nijal Pearson, Nottingham and Peacock to extend the lead to 37-26. Wesley Person scored the final four points of the half as TXST took a seven-point advantage into the break.

King scored the first six points of the second stanza for the Bobcats with his last layup coming with 16:07 remaining on the clock. Troy would score eight straight points with back-to-back three-pointers being made by Kevin Baker to put the visitors in the lead at 45-43. 

A steal by Pearson saw him outlet it ahead to King for a slam, his eighth consecutive points of the period, and tie the game. Pearson would convert two free throw attempts nearly a minute later to give the Bobcats a 47-45 advantage.

The lead quick evaporated on two layup in-a-row from Jordon Varnado in less than 30 seconds. TXST clamped down defensively and held the Trojans without a made field goal for the next 11:42. During that time recorded an 8-0 run to extend the lead to 55-49 but Troy scored the next four points on free throws courtesy of Alex Hicks.

A steal by B.J. Miller resulted in a layup and him getting fouled. He hit the charity stripe attempt to make it 56-55 in favor of the Trojans. Coming out of a timeout, Pearson missed a three-pointer from the left wing but Peacock was there for the board and putback.

Troy then called timeout to setup the final play of the game. Miller received the in-bound pass and was able to break the Bobcats’ press. He got all the way to the rim for a layup but the ball hit off the back iron and out to allow TXST to escape with the victory.

Pearson just missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds. The sophomore also matched his season-high with three steals.

Also reaching double-figures was King with 12 points on a 6-for-11 shooting performance. He was one of four players to retrieve four boards along with Shelby Adams, Eric Terry and Peacock. The Rocky Mount, North Carolina native also rejected two shots to give him 51 in his career and is now one shy of tying Emani Gant for 10th on the program’s career list.

Peacock netted nine points with two made three-pointers and handed out two assists.

Nottingham never left the game after Davis’ injury, playing the final 35 minutes. The junior finished with six points on 2-of-4 shooting from beyond the arc and handed out a career-high six assists.

As a team, the Bobcats made 24-of-55 (43.6 percent) of their shots and were 6-for-17 (35.3 percent) from long distance. They only attempted four free throws, making three of them. 

Defensively, TXST held Troy to 20-of-58 (34.5 percent) from the field including a 7-for-25 (28.0 percent) performance on three-pointers. The Bobcats also won the rebounding battle 35-34 but lost on the offensive glass 15-12. 

Next up for TXST is a trip to Arkansas State on Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.

For the latest on Texas State men’s basketball, visit the official website of Texas State athletics at www.txstatebobcats.com, follow the team on Instagram and Twitter at @TxStateMBB and like on Facebook at /TexasStateMensBasketball.

Box Score: http://txstatebobcats.com/boxscore.aspx?path=&id=5175

Postgame Press Conference:


 

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