Box Score

Postgame Interview with Ron Cottrell (video)

SAN MARCOS, Texas – Texas State came out firing, shooting 60 percent from the field, hitting eight 3-pointers and forcing Houston Baptist into 15 turnovers in the first half to deal the Huskies a 103-76 loss Saturday afternoon at Strahan Coliseum.
 
Junior forward Art Bernardi led HBU (2-6) with 20 points, five rebounds, three steals and two assists. Freshman guard Ronald March Jr. added 14 points and freshman guard Tyler Russell had 12. Junior guard Marcus Davis had nine points and six rebounds, and freshman guard Marcel Smith also scored nine.
 
Travis Jones hit 7-of-9 from the field, including all three of his 3-point attempts, to finish with 23 points and 11 rebounds for Texas State (5-2). Eddie Rios also hit all three of his long-range attempts to score 17 points, while Matt Staff had 11 and John Bowman chipped in with 10.
 
The Bobcats shot 60.7 percent from the field and 62.5 percent (10-of-16) from 3-point range, while the Huskies shot 46.0 percent from the field and only 28.6 percent (4-of-14) from behind the arc. HBU also struggled from the free throw line, making only 14-of-32, while Texas State hit 25-of-37, including 19-of-25 in the second half. The Bobcats outrebounded the Huskies, 44-29, outscoring them 20-7 in second-chance opportunities.
 
Texas State jumped out to a 13-3 lead in first three minutes, behind a couple of threes by Rios and one by Staff. The Huskies scored the next five, but the Bobcats answered with a 13-0 run to lead 26-8 at the 11:12 mark. Texas State extended its advantage to 20, until HBU went on a 12-4 spurt to make the score 36-24. The Bobcats then scored seven straight, including another three by Rios, to lead by 19 with 4:27 to go then had a 9-0 run before the end of the half to lead 56-30 at the break.
 
The Bobcats outrebounded the Huskies, 23-17, in the opening half, pulling down nine offensive boards, which led to 15 second-chance points.
 
HBU opened the second half by outscoring Texas State 11-3 over the first 3:45 of the second half, then trimmed the deficit to 16 with 13:03 left in the game by scoring six-straight points. The Bobcats restored their lead to 25 on a couple of occasions, but back-to-back threes by Davis and March made the score 89-70 with 4:20 remaining in the game. Texas State went to the free throw line 21 times in the second half to extend its final winning margin to 27.
 
The Huskies return home for three of their next four, beginning with Dallas Christian Saturday at 7:05 p.m. at Sharp Gym.