For the second time this season, the Red Wolves took out outgoing Sun Belt program Texas State and produced the same outcome: an Arkansas State victory. But this time, the margin was much closer.

“Huge win for us, said head coach Ryan Pannone. “We didn’t play great. We didn’t play our best. But we found a way to win.”

The Red Wolves took any early lead behind a Chandler Jackson three-pointer and a potpourri of A-State buckets. A Joey Chammaa three would create some separation midway through the half. Brefly, Texas State’s freshman forward DJ Hall and 6’9″ center Tay Knox kept the Bobcats within bumper range, with Hall leading the Bobcats at the half with 10 points a five rebounds.

A Jalen Hampton hoop-and-harm delivered the Red Wolves first double-digit lead of the game, and while the Bobcats refused to go away, A-State closed the half with a 43-37 lead behind nine points from Matt Hayman.

The second half started sluggishly for Ryan Pannone and his Red Wolves, with A-State stuck on one bucket until Harmon connected on a three pointer three minutes in. Still, with 16:00 left on the clock, the chilly Red Wolves were shooting just 22%. The Bobcats would close the lead to just two points as A-State struggled from the floor.

A TJ Caldwell three gave A-State a six point lead with a hair less than 12 minutes left in the half, but Texas State’s Jaelyn Lee would respond with a three of his own. Neither team was willing to drop back or pull ahead, with the game becoming a exercise in free throw shooting and rebounding. Then the game became a lay-up line.

A three from Jalen Bolden and a bucket from Makai Willis tied the game, but a fast break layup from Blue Smith regained the lead for the Red Wolves. DJ Hall tied it right back up with a layup, which was countered by a layup from Hampton. Texas State answered with a rebound from Willis with a reply by Hampton via layup. Everybody and nobody wanted the win, but everybody wanted layups!

“I thought our process was better against James Madison,” Pannone said, referring to a hard-fought loss to the Dukes. “At the end of the day, our guys responded and made clutch free throws.”

With 7:46 on the clock, the game was tied 66-66. After some sloppy hoops at both ends, Chammaa delivered a lead grabbing layup, and Chandler Jackson provided a crowd pleasing slam dunk. Still, the Bobcats refused to yield! A pair of Chammaa freebies gave A-State a four point lead at 3:56.

A haymaker three from Hayman gave the Red Wolves a five point lead with a 1:50 on the clock. A Willis layup reduced the lead to three, but a pair of freebies from Chandler restored the five-point cushion. And yet, Texas State refuse to surrender, getting a deuce from Bolden to make it a one-score lead with just 1:14 on the Timex.

A-State still had the three point lead with 22.3 on the clock when Texas State fouled Chandler in the paint. The transfer from Florida State repaid the Bobcats by draining 1 of 2. With 11 seconds on the clock, Jackson was tagged with the blocking foul, putting Texas State on the line. Bolden would make 1 of 2, and Texas State fouled Jaxon Ellingworth on the way down with the board. Ellingsworth scored the game’s deciding point by nailing one of two shots, and the Red Wolves staggered to am 83-82 victory.

Texas State shot 52% from the field, but Red Wolves rebounding proved to be the difference, with A-State turning in a 43-32 advantage. Chandler Jackson and Matt Hayman led the Red Wolves with 16 and 14 points respectively, while Hampton pulled down 12 rebounds.

“If Jalen Hampton isn’t on this roster, we don’t win this game,” said Pannone.

DJ Hall paced the Bobcats with 16.

To my knowledge, no fans were tossed out of the game.

IMAGE: my own

“I’m not happy with the way we played, but we did find a way to win. You’re not going to be perfect every night. To be able to win a game we didn’t play great, our guys figured out to get the win.” – Coach Pannone

“One of our biggest Achilles is consistency.” – Coach Pannone.

“They call me ‘Bowling Ball.'” – Chandler Jackson