Courtesy: Brandon Scardigli Will Morning puts up a jumper against Texas State.
San Marcos, TX – The McNeese State Cowboys led most of the way but couldn’t hang on in the end as they fell here 95-88 to the Texas State Bobcats.
McNeese (8-14, 3-5) had an 84-81 lead with 3:30 remaining in the contest but failed to make a field goal again until the 2:54 mark, scoring just seven points in the final five minutes, giving Texas State (11-12, 5-4) the win.
Junior Will Morning put up career numbers in the contest, shattering his previous points scored best with 20. He also set career marks in field goals made with nine and field goals attempted with 11. Morning would also finish with a career high nine rebounds.
“Will did great and he’s got a positive mind set going into the rest of the season,” said McNeese State head coach Dave Simmons. “This was also a big one for Stephan (Martin). He loves this type of up-tempo game and he really flourished tonight.”
Stephan Martin led the Cowboys with his 24 points while Diego Kapelan had 17 with three three-pointers while team leading scorer Patrick Richard finished with 13.
Foul trouble plagued the Cowboys early and often as they sent the Bobcats to the free throw line 47 times from which they were successful 35. P.J. Alawoya would foul out at the 4:30 mark in the second half.
“It was a physical ball game but you just can’t win when you send them to the line 47 times and we only get there 18,” said Simmons. “It’s especially frustrating since we were both playing man defense.”
The Cowboys went into the second half with a 45-43 lead and were up by as many as seven points during the loss. The back and forth game also saw 17 total lead changes and 16 ties.
As a team, McNeese shot a much-improved 13 of 18 from the charity stripe, putting them at 72% for the game.
Once again the Cowboys put up big numbers in the paint, scoring 46 of their total points from under the basket.
“We have to regroup and get back to work,” added Simmons. “We have a tough one against UTA and we’ll have to figure out how to stop their big offense.”
The Cowboys will return home where they are 5-2 on the season to face off against UT-Arlington at the Lake Charles Civic Center Wednesday, February 10, at 7 p.m.
Courtesy: Brandon Scardigli
