Texas State Men’s Basketball Goes 2-0, Beats Lamar 65-55
SAN MARCOS, Texas – Behind Emani Gant’s 14 points and 13 rebounds, the Texas State men’s basketball team improved to 2-0 on the year, beating Lamar 65-55, Wednesday night at Strahan Coliseum. With the win, the Bobcats are now 2-0 beating two Division I opponents to start the year for the first time since 1998.
Gant was everywhere in the first 20 minutes, finishing the first half with 12 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots. One of his blocks led to a fast break layup by Wes Davis, to put the Bobcats up 24-12 at the time.
The Bobcats finished the first half up 30-17, marking the second straight half, dating back to the Seattle game, they had allowed 20 points or fewer in a half after accomplishing the feat just once last season.
Junior JaMarcus Weatherspoon served as an outlet to the break the press in the second half, scoring 15 of his game-high 19 points after break. His highlight of the game actually came in the first half, when he took a backdoor pass from Cameron Naylor and flushed it home to get the crowd on their feet. 10 of Weatherspoon’s 15 second-half points came in the paint.
Lamar went on a run to make it 54-48 with four minutes to go following a few three-pointers. The Bobcats then responded going on a 7-2 run to put the lead back to 11. D.J. Brown helped close the game out going 5-of-7 from the free throw line.
Three Bobcats finished scoring in double figures, with Weatherspoon’s 19 points, Gant’s 14 points and Davis’ 15 points, which included 3-of-5 from three-point range.
The Bobcats will next be in action on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m., at UTSA. Saturday’s game is available on radio at KTSW 89.9 FM and www.txstatebobcats.com/radio.
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Paladins Shoot Past Mountaineers
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Furman hit eight of its first nine shots and built an early double digit lead to hand Appalachian State University men’s basketball its second-straight loss as the Mountaineers (0-2) fell by an 84-65 final on Wednesday night at Timmons Arena.
After Chris Burgess (Lakeland, Fla./George Jenkins) knotted the contest at 3-3 with 18:48 on the clock, the Paladins (1-1) reeled off a 12-0 run over to take a 15-3 advantage and never led by less than eight points the rest of the way en route to their second-straight victory over their former Southern Conference rival.
During Furman’s 8-of-9 start, sophomore Stephen Croone connected on a pair of three pointers while Daniel Fowler and Larry Wideman each scored four in the opening five minutes to give the Paladins an insurmountable lead.
The Mountaineers were able to mount a small comeback when, down 23-11 with 10:25 to go in the first half, they pulled within eight (25-17) thanks to Tommy Spagnolo (West Jefferson, N.C./Ashe County [Radford]) and Frank Eaves (Greensboro, N.C./Page). Spagnolo nailed a jumper and threw down a dunk while Eaves hit a pair of free throws during the stretch to help cut into the deficit.
It would be all the closer Appalachian would get, as Furman outscored the Mountaineers 22-13 over the final nine minutes of the opening period to take a 47-30 lead into the locker room.
The Paladins shot a blistering 58.1 percent (18-of-31) from the floor in the first half and hit 5-of-12 shots from beyond the arc while Appalachian managed to connect on just 9-of-23 attempts (39.1 percent).
In the second half, Furman remained hot from the floor, shooting 50.0 percent (11-of-22). The Paladins led by as many as 26 points and never led by less than 15 over the final 20 minutes of action.
Eaves led all scorers with a career-high 20 points and finished 8-of-12 from the charity stripe. Spagnolo notched his ninth career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Furman was paced by a team-high 14 points from Kris Acox, who also pulled down 10 rebounds, while four other Paladins scored in double figures. Croone finished with 12 points and a game-high seven assists while Wideman and Kendrec Ferrara each poured in 12. William Gates added 10 off the bench.
On the night, the Mountaineers shot just 39.3 percent (22-of-56) and were outrebounded 39-29. Furman outscored the Apps 42-32 in the paint and the Paladin bench outscored Appalachian’s 30-8.
The Mountaineers return to action on Saturday when they head to Virginia Tech for a 1 p.m. tipoff against the Hokies.
NOTES: The Mountaineers fell to 39-46 all-time against Furman ... the Paladins upped their record to 28-10 when facing App State at home ... Appalachian has dropped back-to-back games to the Paladins for only the second time since in the last 20 seasons ... the loss marked the Mountaineers’ 10th-straight to a Division I non-conference foe (last win - Dec. 22, 2012, 78-70 vs. Presbyterian) ... Logan Jackson (Waxhaw, N.C./Marvin Ridge [NC State]) saw his first action as he was subbed in during the final two minutes of play ... Jacob Lawson (Reidsville, N.C./Oak Ridge Military Academy [Purdue]) did not play due to a violation of team rules ... no timetable has been set for his return.