STOCKTON, Calif. – The Texas State men's basketball battled to the very end against Canisius Friday night at the Alex G. Spanos Center but fell 68-62. It was the second of three games this week for the Bobcats in the Men Against Breast Cancer Showcase.

With the loss, the Bobcats drop to 2-3 on the season while the Golden Griffs are now 2-3 as well.

"That was a disappointing loss and I was especially disappointed in our defense in the second half," said head coach Danny Kaspar. "We gave up too many layups, too many good shots and turned it over too many times. We have to go back to work."

After an opening basket from Canisius, TXST went on a 9-2 run that began with the first made three-pointer of the season by Nedeljko Prijovic. Marlin Davis capped off the run with a fastbreak layup after picking off a pass at the 15:04 mark.

With 11:32 on the clock, Alex Peacock got a layup to fall to give the Bobcats their largest lead of the game at 14-8. The Golden Griffs scored 12 of the next 14 points in the contest to go up by four. They would take a four-point lead twice more with the last being at 25-21 at the 41 second mark.

Nijal Pearson knocked down a three-pointer from the left wing with just under eight seconds remaining in the half to cut TXST's deficit to 25-24. Canisius had a chance for a last second heave before the buzzer but Isaiah Reese passed to a teammate right before time expired after pressure from Tyler Blount at half court near the scoring table.

Coming out of halftime, Pearson took over offensively and scored the first seven points for the Bobcats. Immanuel King followed with a short jumper in the paint to stretch the scoring run to nine straight and a 33-30 lead with 14:47 left in the game.

TXST eventually extended its advantage to 44-39 after a layup from Eric Terry halfway through the period. The Golden Griffs would go on a 21-6 run over the next 5:06 to go up 60-50. The points for the Bobcats during the stretch came from Pearson and Prijovic on a three-pointer apiece.

Over the final four minutes, TXST battled to eventually cut the deficit to 64-60 after an old-fashion three-point play from Davis. Canisius' Takal Molson got a layup and made two free throws to seal the game. Pearson tallied the final bucket of the contest with a put back with just under three second left on the clock.

Scoring a game-high 17 points was Pearson as he made 6-of-16 shots, was 3-for-7 from beyond the arc and made both free throw attempts. He also grabbed eight rebounds and was credited with two assists.

Retrieving eight boards, a new career-high for the second straight games, as well was Alex Peacock coming off the bench. He added eight points after going 3-for-6 from the field and 2-for-2 at the charity stripe. The junior's three steals were most by a Bobcat in a game this season.

Davis ended the game with nine points, a team-high four assists and two rebounds. Prijovic contributed eight points thanks to a 2-for-4 performance from long distance. Netting seven points was Terry.

TXST were 20-of-50 from the field for the game with a 10-for-21 performance in the second half. The Bobcats knocked down 6-of-18 three-point attempts and converted 16-of-23 free throws after knocking down 15-of-17 in the final 20 minutes.

For the fifth consecutive game, TXST outrebounded an opponent with a 34-26 advantage tonight. The Bobcats dominated on the offensive glass 12-5 but netted just nine second chance points.

TXST concludes its time in California on Saturday at 8 p.m. CT against Pacific.

For the latest on Texas State men's basketball, visit the official website of Texas State athletics at www.txstatebobcats.com, follow the team on Instagram and Twitter at @TxStateMBB and like on Facebook at /TexasStateMensBasketball.