App State men’s basketball lost a nail-biter in San Marcos, Texas against the Texas State Bobcats Wednesday night 63-56. Before the loss, the Mountaineers rattled off nine-straight wins. 

The Black and Gold struggled to shoot the ball from beyond the arc in the first half, connecting on two of their eight three pointers in addition to committing eight first-half turnovers. App State shot 50% from the field in the half. 

Junior forward Tre’Von Spillers was a bright spot going a perfect 4/4 from the field, and led the Mountaineers with nine points. Senior forward CJ Huntley gave head coach Dustin Kerns valuable bench minutes with his interior presence on the defensive end. 

App State went into the second half trailing 29-26 thanks to their strong defensive presence. The Mountaineers held the Bobcats below 40% from the field in the first half. 

The Black and Gold started the second half strong, taking a lead 34-33 lead two minutes into the half. However, this would be the last lead the Mountaineers had after a 7-0 Texas State run. App State kept it close for the duration of the game, but subsequently suffered a 63-56 loss. 

Junior guard Terence Harcum finished with a team-high 13 points. Graduate student forward Donovan Gregory finished with 12 points, marking his 15th time in double figures this season. Junior guard Myles Tate tallied 11 points of his own. Sophomore forward Justin Abson protected the paint once again and finished with three blocks, giving him 75 on the year to tie App State’s single-season block record. Spillers finished with a team-high nine rebounds. 

The Mountaineers finished with a 41.2% field goal percentage and 21.1% from beyond the arc. 

App State will return to Boone to face Toledo in the MAC-SBC challenge Saturday at 1 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.