Men’s Basketball loses; Clinches SBC Tournament Berth

By Kiersten Ehr

Texas State men’s basketball team have clinched a berth in the Sun Belt Conference even with their 67-64 loss to Appalachian State last night. The Bobcats got in the tournament due to Georgia State beating ULM and South Alabama beating Arkansas State. In the first half the Bobcats went 10-12 from the foul line which kept them in the game and just before halftime sophomore Kavin-Gilder Tilbury, the current College Sports Madness Sun Belt Player of the week, hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to make the halftime score of 32-27.

The defense struggled throughout the game and had to lean more on the offensive end with the help from Jamarcus Weatherspoon and Wes Davis.

Texas State hung around the second half  keeping the score  close, but the Bobcats lost the fight as App State made their free throws as Texas State missed their free throws at the final seconds. Assistant Coach Jim Shaw discussed what the game came down to.

“I don’t know if we didn’t hit enough shots but to give up 67 points against out defense that’s a credit to Appalachian State. We looked up there and they had 54 points with nine minutes left, so to give up 13 points in nine minutes, I’ll go back to earlier in the game when we got broken down off the dribble-drive, and giving up open shots or not playing well enough in the pivot.”

Texas State needs to regroup on for the regular season finale this Saturday at UL Monroe at 4:30 and the game can be heard on KTSW. In the SBC tournament the Bobcats can be seeded anywhere from the 6th seed to the 8th seed. It starts Thursday the 12th in New Orleans.

I’m Kiersten Ehr with KTSW Sports.