By Mark Brown
Assistant Sports Director
They say when one begins the new year with positivity, nothing but blessings shall return. Guess what? The Texas State Men’s basketball team already jump-started the year with a 73-70 win over the Georgia Southern Eagles at their home court! With the Bobcats now 1-0 in conference play, I guarantee blessings will shower down on Bobcat fans very soon.
The team is now 12-2 overall and 1-0 in conference play as they kick start a tremendous amount of hope in the upcoming games. Head coach Danny Kaspar has high expectations of his players as they continue to march on in the historic 2018-2019 season journey. Both the men and women’s teams defeated the Eagles.
The Bobcats led the Eagles 43-37 at half. Texas State extended the lead to 53-41, with 17:26 remaining in the second half. Senior guard Tre’Larenz Nottingham knocked down eight points after junior forward Eric Terry scored a layup on an assist from superstar Nijal Pearson.
As the Eagles closed the gap 60-54, Nottingham drained a pair of three-point shots and Pearson scored two more points to give the Bobcats a 68-54 lead with 8:29 left to play. Georgia Southern retaliated with seven straight points to cut Texas State’s lead to seven. Nottingham’s layup gave the Bobcats a 72-63 lead with 3:03 left to play.
Georgia Southern rallied back to 73-70 with 20 seconds remaining on the clock. The Eagles fouled Jaylen Shead on Texas State’s next possession, but he missed both free throws, giving Georgia Southern a chance to tie the score. However, three Eagle players all missed a three-point shot in the final seconds as the Bobcats secured the dub.
A handful of players destroyed the leaderboards with stats in tonight’s match up. Nottingham ripped the boards with 24 points, two rebounds, and two assists. Eric Terry harnessed 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists. Alex Peacock recorded his second double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Pearson logged a career-high 14 rebounds alongside his six points to aid the Bobcats in their latest Sun Belt victory.
Next up the Bobcats will stay put in San Marcos as they hold a showdown with the Georgia State Panthers this Saturday at 4 pm. Tune in to KTSW 89.9 for more!
