Despite leading by as many as 15 points in the first half, Texas State men’s basketball suffered their third straight loss in the Sun Belt Conference with a 72-68 loss against the Little Rock Trojans in Little Rock on Thursday night.
The Bobcats dropped to  0-3 in conference play and are now 7-7 overall while the Trojans rose to 9-5 on the season. The loss ended Texas State’s four-game winning streak over Little Rock.
The ‘Cats easily won the first half behind a tight defense, allowing only a 40 percent shooting percentage and 0-5 shooting from deep to go into halftime with a comfortable 39-28 lead.
In the second half, however, the Trojans flipped the switch and won the period 44-29. shooting 68 percent to Texas State’s 32 percent to take the game 72-68.
Leading the way for Texas State was senior guard Nijal Pearson, who scored a team-high 25 points on 8-17 shooting and shot 5-9 from the three-point range. Sophomore guards Mason Harrell and Caleb Asberry chipped in 17 and 12 points respectfully. Harrell led the Bobcats with five assists while Pearson added three.
The Trojans took the win off of two double-doubles in the match, while four players scored in the double digits.
The Bobcats will have a chance for a conference win against the Arkansas State Red Wolves at noon on Saturday at the First National Bank Arena in Jonesboro, Ark before returning to Strahan Arena to open home conference play against Troy on Monday. The Red Wolves are 3-1 in conference while Troy is on a two-game losing streak and sits at 2-1 in the Sun Belt.