STATESBORO, Ga. – The Texas State men's basketball fought a gritty defensive battle, but came up on the short end, 40-36 to Georgia Southern, Saturday night at the Hanner Fieldhouse in Statesboro, Ga.

The Bobcats led for much of the game until one of the leading scorers in the country, Jelani Hewitt, hit his first and only three of the game to tie it at 33-33 with 3:50 to go.

The game went back and forth and was eventually tied at 35-35 after Emani Gant made two free throws. Unfortunately, Georgia Southern's Angel Matias made a layup to put the Eagles up 37-35 with 1:18 to go. The Bobcats had an opportunity to tie it up down 39-36 with 11.6 seconds to go, but the Eagles elected to foul D.J. Brown and not allow the team to shoot a three.

The first half was much the same as Tuesday night's contest at Troy was in terms of defense. The Bobcats held Georgia Southern scoreless for 11 minutes in the first half, building as much as a 13-4 lead. Unfortunately, the Bobcats were not able to capitalize on their defensive prowess, turning the ball over 13 times in the first half, and held just a 21-19 lead into halftime.

D.J. Brown helped keep the Bobcats afloat offensively in the first half, scoring eight points, on 2-of-4 from beyond the arc, in addition to adding two free throws.

The Bobcats will be back in action on Monday night at 6:00 p.m., at Georgia State. Saturday's game will be broadcast on 89.9 FM KTSW and online at www.txstatebocats.com/radio.