The Texas State Men’s basketball team dropped to third place in the Sun Belt Conference standings after a 54-50 loss to Georgia State snapped the Bobcats’ five-game road conference winning streak.
The Bobcats are now 14-9 overall and 7-3 in the Sun Belt Conference after the Jan. 27 loss in Atlanta, Georgia. The Panthers improved to 16-6 on the season and 7-2 in conference play and replaced the Bobcats in the No. 2 spot.
“It was a disappointing defeat but our players played with a lot of heart and toughness,” head coach Danny Kaspar said. “I am very proud of their effort on the road trip. Both of these opponents are very difficult to beat on the road and we came very close to pulling it off. I hope we can carry this over to our games at home next week.”
The Bobcats had a slow start against the Panthers, missing their first seven shots of the game. Senior forward Immanuel King scored first for Texas State at the 13:25 mark with a tipped in shot.
The Bobcats went on to have a 14-5 run for almost eight minutes.
The Panthers battled back, but the Bobcats were able to score nine of the last 13 points to take a 23-21 lead going into the half.
Coming off from the half, both teams added three points onto their side of the score board with GSU’s being a three-pointer and King’s three-point play.
After a big layup from King, the Panthers went on a 10-0 run for over three and a half minutes.
Sophomore forward Nedeljko Prijovic ended the Panthers’ run with a jumper. The Bobcats would go on a 16-6 run to make take a 48-44 lead.
The Bobcats scored their final bucket with 12 seconds to play but was not enough to take back the 54-50 GSU lead.
Texas State shot 35.1 percent from the field goal and 100 percent from the free-throw line. The Bobcats led GSU 33-29 in rebounds and 11-5 in steals.
Sophomore guard Nijal Pearson led the team with 12 points and three steals. King fell short of a double-double with nine points and 13 boards.
The Bobcats will be back at home Feb. 1 to take on Coastal Carolina at Strahan Coliseum. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.