Men’s Basketball Downs Chanticleers On The Road To Close Out 2017

Leading the team in assists and rebounds was Marlin Davis. The Houston native grabbed a career-high seven boards and handed out three assists.

CONWAY, S.C. – Shooting was like day and night for the Texas State men’s basketball team Sunday afternoon at the HTC Center but held on for a 53-48 victory against Coastal Carolina.

The Bobcats made 65.0 percent of their shots in the opening half but were held to 27.3 percent in the final 20 minutes, while shooting 42.5 percent (19-of-42) for the contest.

TXST improved to 8-7 on the season and 1-1 in the Sun Belt Conference while the Chanticleers drop to 7-8 overall and 1-1 in conference play. The win also gave the Bobcats its eighth consecutive month of a .500 record or better.

“This was a great win for us after coming off the disappointing loss to Appalachian State. Our guys have played for about 74 of the 80 minutes on this road trip,” said head coach Danny Kaspar. “This is a very tough road trip in terms of travel and I am really thankfully for the guys’ efforts in both games this weekend.” 

Nijal Pearson got the scoring going with an 18-foot jumper after a defensive stop by TXST. Nearly three minutes into the contest, Tyler Blount knocked down a three-pointer as the Bobcats scored the first seven points of the game.

Back-to-back three-pointers from Nedeljko Prijovic and Blount kicked started a 10-2 run for TXST over a 3:03 span. All of 10 points were scored by the duo with them netting five points apiece

Alex Peacock and Pearson knocked down treys on consecutive possessions to give the Bobcats’ their largest lead of the game at 30-16 with 4:21 left in the opening stanza.

CCU would end the half by scoring eight of the final 10 points as TXST took a 32-24 lead into halftime. TXST’s lone points coming on a desperation toss in the lane after contact by Blount that miraculously went through the hoop.

The Bobcats extended their lead to 38-28 after a layup by Peacock and two free throws from Blount. The Peacock layup at the 17:09 mark was the last by TXST until the junior forward made another one with 7:20 left on the clock. During that stretch, CCU was able to cut the lead down to two.

Four straight Chanticleer free throws knotted the game at 43. Pearson was able to get to the basket was had just enough on his attempt to get the ball to fall into the basket at the 3:24 mark. CCU answered back with two more charity stripe makes on its next possession.

Two free throws courtesy of Pearson and a jumper by Prijovic from the charity stripe increased the advantage to 49-45. Twice in the final minute the Chanticleers were able to get within two.

A 1-for-2 trip at the line by Tre’Larenz Nottingham increased the score to 51-48 in favor of the Bobcats with 6.8 showing on the clock. CCU’s Zac Cuthbertson was fouled and missed his first free throw attempt as 4.6 seconds remained in the game. He purposely missed his second attempt but completely missed the rim to automatically turn the ball over.

Pearson then threw a long pass down court to Peacock, who raced to the basket for the game sealing layup.

Leading the way offensively for TXST was Pearson with 15 points on 5-of-12 shooting and a made trey. He also converted 4-of-6 at the free throw line.

Blount netted 14 points, 12 of which came in the first half. The senior knocked down 5-of-8 from the field with a 2-for-5 performance from the charity stripe.

Peacock just missed reaching double-figures with nine points. Coming off the bench, Prijovic added seven points and four rebounds.

Leading the team in assists and rebounds was Marlin Davis. The Houston native grabbed a career-high seven boards and handed out three assists.

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=mbball&id=5173