ATLANTA – In another nail biter, the Texas State men's basketball team was on the wrong end against Georgia State in a 54-50 contest Saturday afternoon in the GSU Sports Arena. The loss snapped the Bobcats' five-game road conference winning streak.
 
TXST drops to 14-9 overall and into third place in the Sun Belt Conference with a 7-3 record. The Panthers are now 16-6 on the season and 7-2 in conference play to take over second place.
 
"It was a disappointing defeat but our players played with a lot of heart and toughness," said head coach Danny Kaspar. "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."
 
A very slow start saw Texas State miss its first seven shots before Immanuel King tipped in a miss shot at the 13:25 mark. Defensively, the Bobcats held GSU to just six points during that span.
 
The Rocky Mount, North Carolina native's basket started a 14-5 run for TXST that last 7:57. Capping off the run was Nijal Pearson with a jumper just inside the free throw line and while also being closely guarded.
 
After the Panthers scored the next four points, the Bobcats closed out the final 3:30 of the opening stanza by scoring nine of the last 13 points to take a 23-21 leading into halftime. Eric Terry netted the final four points for TXST with two free throws a short jumper off the glass.
 
In the first 20 minutes, the Bobcats were 8-for-29 (27.6%) from the field but converted all seven of their free throw attempts. They also forced 10 turnovers with six being the result of a steal.
 
GSU hit a three-pointer on its opening possession but King converted and old-fashion three-point play to put TXST back in front. After trading baskets, King powered his way for a layup to make it 30-28 Bobcats with 15:56 to play. That is when the Panthers would go on a 10-0 run that last over three and a half minutes.
 
The scoring drought was ended when Nedeljko Prijovic hit a pull-up jumper from just inside the three-point arc. His bucket kicked started a 16-6 scoring run for Texas State and go in front 48-44 with 3:50 left on the clock. Capping off the run was Pearson with a layup after stealing the ball right after a Panther grabbed a defensive rebound.
 
Following at GSU timeout, the Bobcats grabbed three consecutive rebounds but were unable to come away with any points. The D'Marcus Simonds scored the final eight points for the Panthers. Before Simonds knocked down two free throws with 12 seconds to play, Prijovic converted a layup to putt TXST to within 52-50.
 
Pearson led the Bobcats with 12 points and recorded three steals. King just missed a double-double with nine points and career-high tying 13 rebounds, six of which came on the offensive glass.
 
Netting six points apiece off the bench were Shelby Adams, Deris Duncan and Prijovic. Adams set a career-high with five assists and recorded a game-high four steals.
 
Next up for TXST is Coastal Carolina on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. inside Strahan Coliseum.
 
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.