Texas State Suffers Loss to Georgia Southern

By Cristian Delgado
Sports Reporter

To enjoy success, you must experience defeat, and that’s what the Texas State men’s basketball team had to endure. The ‘Cats had their electrifying 5 game winning streak cut short following the 74-58 loss to conference rival, Georgia Southern.

This game served as a reality check for the Bobcats as they were riding high into this game against the 13-8 Georgia Southern Eagles. The Bobcats had a great start with Jaylen Shead making both a layup and three point jumper to put the Bobcats up 5-0 within the first two minutes of the first half. The Eagles would take flight after the early deficit by making several jumpers to regain the lead 15-7 against the Bobcats. The next 15 minutes would not favor the Bobcats, as they had an early amount of fouls and turnovers that ultimately gave Georgia Southern a sizable 33-28 lead by the end of the first half.

The Bobcats had a difficult time gaining momentum as Nijal Pearson and Tre Nottingham tried to catch fire late in the first half, combining for 13 points and 6 rebounds. The ‘Cats shot 12-of-27 while going 2-of-11 from 3 point range in the first half.

Missed free throws and loads of turnovers continued to haunt the Bobcats after halftime as they totaled a devastating 18 fouls and turnovers throughout the whole game. This wouldn’t dissuade Tre Nottingham, who exploded from his 7 point first half to an impressive 18 point with 4 three pointer performance in the second half. Nottingham helped the Bobcats to finish with 25 points along with the second leading scorers, Nijal Pearson and Alex Peacock, tying with only 9 points. The Bobcats could not get in sync tonight on the road throughout this low scoring offensive performance.

The Bobcats finished the night shooting a rough 35 percent from the free throw line along with 26 percent from 3 point alley.

The Bobcats can still keep their heads up as they are now 17-4 overall with a 6-2 conference record following tonight’s loss. With a week to recover, the ‘Cats look to regain their composure versus in-state conference rival, UT Arlington, next Saturday night at 4 p.m at Strahan.

Featured image by Texas State Athletics.