Box Score

HAMMOND – Brooks Ybarra hit a 16-foot jumper as time expired as Texas State edged Southeastern Louisiana, 62-61, in a Southland Conference game Wednesday at the University Center.

Matt Staff scored a game-high 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as Texas State (12-15, 4-9 SLC) won its third straight game and second consecutive on the road. Southeastern, which will travel to face Central Arkansas on Saturday, fell to 10-16 overall and 3-10 in the SLC.

Southeastern trailed 60-57 with 1:37 remaining before Jeremy Campbell drove the length of the floor off a missed shot by Wesley Davis and scored on a layup with 27.2 seconds remaining to cut the Bobcat lead to 60-59.

After a Southeastern timeout, the Lions' DeShawn Patterson swiped a Bobcat pass and Campbell converted on a driving shot with 5.2 seconds left to put the Southeastern ahead, 61-60.

Texas State inbounded the ball to half court and after a timeout, Ybarra drained his game-winning jumper from the left elbow to give the Bobcats their third straight win over Southeastern and first win in the University Center since a 64-62 decision on Feb. 21, 2002.

The game saw 10 ties and 15 lead changes as both teams continued to pursue a berth in next month's Southland Conference Tournament. Neither team led by more than seven points in the game and Southeastern led, 32-28, at halftime.

A jumper by Roosevelt Johnson with 2:37 remaining in the first half gave Southeastern a 26-24 lead and opened an 8-2 run by the Lions that was capped by a layup by Todd Nelson with 23 seconds remaining.

A 3-pointer by Nelson to open the second half gave Southeastern its largest lead of the contest, 35-28, before Texas State fought back. Travis Jones answered for the Bobcats with a 3-pointer before Staff scored on a short jumper that cut the lead to 35-33 at the 17:46 mark.

Staff, who finished 9-for-17 from the floor, opened up a 9-2 run for the Bobcats with a jumper that broke a 42-42 deadlock and gave Texas State its biggest lead of the game. Vonn Jones drove the length of the floor and scored on a layup before John Bowman answered a basket by Southeastern with a three-point play that put Texas State ahead, 49-44.

Ybarra, who finished 2-for-5 from the field, drained a pair of free throws to put the Bobcats ahead, 51-44 with 7:48 left before the Lions quickly erased the lead.

Johnson, who led Southeastern with 18 points and 13 rebounds for his third straight double-double and seventh of the year, scored on a short jumper in the lane before Campbell made one of two free throws and Antonnio Benton drained a 3-pointer that cut the lead to 51-50.

Benton, who finished with a career-high 11 points, added a jumper in the lane that gave Southeastern a 52-51 lead with 5:38 remaining before Reid Koenen helped Texas State regain the lead as he answered with a 15-foot jumper.

Davis came off the bench to score 12 points for Texas State, which finished 22-for-50 (44.0 percent) from the floor and 14-for-26 (53.8 percent) in the second half.

Patterson, who dished out five assists for Southeastern, recorded three steals for the Lions to increase his career total to 171 and breaking the school record set by Hank Washington (171) from 1990-93.

Nelson, in his second start of the year, scored 12 points for Southeastern, which finished 23-for-54 (42.6 percent) from the floor.

TEXAS STATE (12-15, 4-9 SLC)
Staff 9-17 2-4 21; Davis 3-8 6-11 12; Ybarra 2-5 4-4 8; Koenen 2-7 2-2 7; V. Jones 3-6 0-0 6; T. Jones 1-2 0-0 3; Bowman 1-3 1-1 3; Ball 1-2 0-0 2; Dade 0-0 0-0 0; Brown 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-50 15-22 62.

SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA (10-16, 3-10 SLC)
Johnson 7-14 4-5 18; Nelson 4-9 2-4 12; Benton 4-7 2-2 11; Campbell 3-9 2-5 8; Patterson 3-9 0-0 6; Populist 2-3 0-0 6; Ross 0-0 0-0 0; Ochie 0-0 0-0 0; Cooper 0-2 0-0 0; Petrovcic 0-1 0-2 0. Totals 23-54 10-18 61.

Halftime – SLU 32, Texas State 28. 3-point goals - Texas State 3-12 (T. Jones 1-2; Koenen 1-4; Staff 1-2; V. Jones 0-1; Ybarra 0-1; Davis 0-2), SLU 5-14 (Nelson 2-6; Populist 2-2; Benton 1-1; Cooper 0-2; Patterson 0-3). Fouled out - None. Rebounds - Texas State 33 (Staff 13), SLU 34 (Johnson 13). Assists - Texas State 5 (Bowman 2), SLU 11 (Patterson 5). Total fouls - Texas State 20, SLU 18. Technical fouls - None. A – 630.