The Bobcats Hold Off the Ragin Cajuns at Home

By Solomon Nash 

KTSW Sports Reporter

 SAN MARCOS, Texas- The Texas State Bobcats got back in the win column after taking down the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns in a 59-54 close victory at Strahan Arena. The Bobcats were led by the duo of Junior Guard Kaden Gumbs and Freshman Forward DJ Hall who combined for 34 points.  

After a rough road trip where the Bobcats suffered back to back losses, they would return home in a favorable matchup against the struggling ULL Ragin Cajuns. The Bobcats would be without Mark Drone due to injury but Gumbs would step up in his absence and score 18 points on 8-11 shooting. 

Then DJ Hall would have a night of his own where he would score 16 points alongside a career high 14 rebounds. The freshman continues to have these consistent nights of good play.  

Key contributions from the bench also helped the Bobcats secure the victory as Franck Emmou scored 12 points and shot 50% from the field. The Bobcats would also finish with a 34-24 rebound advantage and outscored the Cajuns 38-16 in the paint.  

The game began as the Bobcats won the tip and went on a scoring frenzy early as they held a 9-2 lead at one point, before Louisiana would respond with a scoring run from their bench to tie the ballgame at 9-9 a piece.  

The Bobcats would get their act together quickly after that as they went on a 6-0 run late in the first half and forced a Louisiana timeout. Then they would force another timeout just three minutes later after Franck Emmou went on a 7-0 scoring run himself and gave Texas State a 25-15 lead with 3:50 left in the half.  

The Bobcats would lose some steam and allowed the Ragin Cajuns to cut the lead to just seven when the halftime whistle blew as the score was 29-22 heading into the locker room. 

The second half would open up with fireworks as Texas State scored a couple of buckets only for Louisiana to respond with a 10-0 scoring run to force a Texas State timeout when they shrunk the lead to one and made it a 33-32 ballgame five minutes into the half.  

The contest was at a deadlock for 10 minutes with nobody pulling away until near the six minute mark when the Bobcats defense would start generating turnovers and allow the Cats to build an 8 point lead as the score was 49-41 late in the second half.  

The Ragin Cajuns weren’t done fighting yet as they scraped back and made it a 54-51 ballgame in the last minute. Gumbs would go to the free throw line and shoot one for two to give the cats a four point lead.  

The Cats defense held strong and back to back fastbreak points would give the Bobcats an eight point lead before the Cajuns would make a late three but the game was over at that point and the Bobcats would secure their ninth home win of the season.  

We spoke with Head Coach Terrence Johnson after the game where he shared his thoughts after this tough game, “When it’s a battle out there like it was today and when we make mistakes that drive me insane it’s important to remember to not overreact and see the course and be in it for the long haul and hopefully my guys can follow suit”.  

Coach Johnson also went in depth on his star Guard Kaden Gumbs following his night, “I thought throughout the whole day today that Kaden was the best leader I’ve ever seen him be, he didn’t come out a single time during this game he played every minute, what he does for this team can’t be put into words’’.  

Forward DJ Hall also spoke with us about playing with Gumbs, “He’s my guy he can give you 20 points any night so for him to do what he did tonight it’s amazing and he’s gonna keep being a leader for us”.  

Kaden Gumbs also spoke with us about Hall’s performances as of late, “He’s a key piece to our success, he’s really good and for him to put up these numbers and he’s just getting started”.  

The Bobcats will look to carry this momentum into Saturday as they will take on the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, a team they recently fell to in overtime the Bobcats will be looking to redeem themselves this time at home.