By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay

The Texas State Bobcats shot with a high rate of efficiency early, and then they hit the offensive boards relentlessly in the second half Wednesday night en route to an 80-69 victory over the UTSA Roadrunners.

In the men’s college basketball game played at Strahan Arena in San Marcos, guard Dimp Pernell came off the bench to score 19 points to lead five Texas State players in double figures.

Kaden Gumbs, DJ Hall, Franck Emmou and Makai Willis all scored 11 for the Bobcats, who won their first game of the season against Division I competition and improved to 2-2.

Jamir Simpson knocked down four 3-pointers and scored 22 for the Roadrunners, who fell to 1-2. Freshman Kaidon Rayfield added 16 points and nine boards. Off the bench, Brent Moss scored 12 and Baboucarr Njie scored 11 for UTSA.

First half

Forward Makai Willis produced nine points and four rebounds in the first half as the Texas State Bobcats pounded out a 38-26 halftime lead on the UTSA Roadrunners.

In the game played at Strahan Arena in San Marcos, Texas State point guard Kaden Gumbs also had a big half with eight points and five assists.

Texas State led by as many as 17 points in the half, when the Bobcats shot 45.2 percent from the field and scored seven points off eight Roadrunners turnovers. UTSA was held to 38.5 percent shooting.

The Bobcats scored the game’s first nine points and kept on rolling. When Gumbs drove baseline and was fouled, he hit two free throws for a 9-0 lead with 16:49 remaining.

They went on another run, going off 11-0, to make it 25-8.

Jamir Simpson scored 10 points in the half for the Roadrunners. Kaidon Rayfield had nine points and four rebounds. Baboucarr Njie protected the rim with a couple of blocked shots.