SAN MARCOS, Texas – Little Rock (13-12, 4-8 SBC) scored 22 points in the final four minutes, but it wasn't enough to overcome a poor shooting night in Saturday's 56-49 loss at Texas State (14-9, 7-4 SBC). The Trojans shot 30.2 percent from the floor and 31.3 percent from 3-point range in the loss at Strahan Coliseum.
Texas State's offense didn't fare much better, shooting just 35.4 percent on the night. But the Bobcats led by as many as 12 four times in the second half, the final coming after two free throws from Bobby Conley made it 41-29 with 3:21 to play.
From there, Little Rock used a 9-1 run on 3-pointers by
Kemy Osse and Marcus Johnson to pull within 42-38 with 1:55 to play. Johnson's two free throws pulled Little Rock within four again, 44-40, with 1:36 remaining. But Kavin Gilder-Tilbury's 3 with 1:08 to play pushed Texas State's lead back out to seven and the Trojans could pull no closer than five the rest of the way.
Osse led the Trojans with 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting. Johnson added 11 while
Jalen Jackson scored eight points off the bench.
Gilder-Tilbury led the Bobcats with 15 points. Nijal Pearson added 13 points.
Little Rock made 12 of 13 free throws and led 23-6 in bench scoring.
Texas State's defense held Little Rock to 23.1 percent shooting in the first half as the Bobcats took a 24-18 lead into the locker room. The Trojans went through scoreless streaks of 6:14 and 4:48 in the opening half, but it wasn't until five straight points by Gilder-Tilbury late in the half that the Bobcats created any kind of separation.
With Texas State leading 18-16 with under three minutes until halftime, Gilder-Tilbury jumpers on back-to-back possessions put the Bobcats up 23-16.
Little Rock returns to action on Monday at UTA. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. and the game will be televised on the American Sports Network and streamed on ESPN3.
Sun Belt Championship Tickets
The 2017 Sun Belt Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Championships are scheduled for a week of March Madness in the Big Easy. New Orleans will once again be home to the two championships that will take place at Lakefront Arena from March 7-12 and ticket books can now be purchased from your our ticket office. For more information, visit the Sun Belt Conference's championship central websites - Men's Championship – Women's Championship – and be sure to follow the @FunBelt on social media - @SunBelt.
