Throwback Week Ends with a Victory for Texas State Against Old Dominion

Jonathan Marin 

KTSW Sports Reporter  

SAN MARCOS- The Texas State Bobcats (12-11, 5-6)  secured another victory at home against the Old Dominion Lions (7-15, 4-6), 81-64, continuing their dominance at Strahan Arena.  

Throwback week was in full effect, with the arena packed with alumni decked out in Southwest Texas University merch, paying homage to the previous namesake of Texas State University.  

The Bobcats, coming off a win against the Marshall Thundering Herd, were looking to continue their dominance at home, which has become evident over the course of the season with an 11-1 home record coming into the game. A record nearly opposite to their abysmal 1-8 away record.  

The momentum seemed to swing the Bobcats’ way almost immediately as multiple turnovers from ODU were capitalized on, particularly from DJ Hall, who sank two 3-point jumpers to break open a great overall scoring performance, finishing with a career high of 24 points.  

Distribution from Mark Drone helped the Bobcats run away with the lead, with 5 assists in the first period alone, and 8 in total. The triple-double was nearly obtained by the senior guard with a  12 pts, 7 reb, 8 ast stat line.  

“I knew that coming into the game, the focus was going to be around me, especially with KG (Kaden Gumbs) running into foul trouble,” said Gumbs. “I knew that if I drew attention to myself, it could create buckets for my team.” 

The first and second periods featured several personal fouls from Kaden Gumbs, DJ Hall, and Tay Knox, which led to rotational adjustments in the late first and early second, allowing for redshirt sophomore Franck Emmou to take an increased role, who finished the game with 12 points.  

Despite great performances from Jordan Battle and Ketron Shaw, the ODU Lions could not protect the ball, leading to 14 turnovers. Twenty-five percent of Texas States points coming from forced turnovers. The shot selection was also not there for multiple ODU players, such as LJ Thomas, who shot 1-7 from the field. The Bobcat defense continued to disrupt throughout the course of the game. 

The Bobcats’ record now increases to 13-11 overall and 6-6 in conference play.  

The Bobcats will try to translate their home success to away success as they head towards Statesboro, Georgia, to face off against the Georgia Southern Eagles on February 4th.