STATESBORO, Georgia - Despite senior guard Tre'Larenz Nottingham scoring a season-high 25 points, the Texas State men's basketball team couldn't mount a consistent offensive attack and suffered a 74-58 loss at Georgia Southern in Hanner Fieldhouse Saturday afternoon.
 
The Bobcats jumped out to an early 5-0 lead, but Texas State couldn't hit any shots consistently throughout much of the afternoon.  The Bobcats finished the game shooting just 39.7 percent (23-58) from the field and 26.9 percent (7-26) from the three-point line and 35.7 percent (5-14) from the free throw line.
 
With Texas State leading 7-5, the Eagles used a 10-0 run to take the lead the rest of the way. The Bobcat mounted several comebacks during the rest of the game, but those were thwarted by the Eagles.
 
The first comeback attempt came when Nijal Pearson drove the lane for a pair of layups and hit Eric Terry for another layup to pull the Bobcats to within 15-13 with just under 10 minutes left in the first half. But, Georgia Southern scored five points to regain control.
 
The second came when Nottingham drove into the lane for two more layups to pull the Bobcats to within 24-21. But Texas State couldn't get any closer as Georgia Southern used a 9-7 advantage the rest of the way to take a 33-28 lead into halftime.
 
Jaylen Shead, who finished the game with nine points and a career-high four steals, began the second half with a layup to pull Texas State back to within 33-30, but Montae Glenn scored five quick points on a layup and free throw and a fast break dunk shot to extend Georgia Southern's lead to 38-30.
 
Pearson, who finished the game with nine points, nailed a three-pointer from the left of the key with the shot clock running out of time to pull Texas State to within 38-33. That was as close as Texas State would get in the rest of the half.
 
Georgia Southern led by eight points, 55-45, when Nottingham scored on a fast break layup to pull the Bobcats to within eight. However, it was Georgia Southern who answered with a 12-0 run to make the score 67-47 lead with 5:18 remaining in the game.
 
Texas State couldn't get any closer than 16 points the rest of the way as Georgia Southern held on for a 74-58 victory. Tookie Brown led Georgia Southern with 17 points, while Elijah McFadden added 15 off the bench and Glenn added 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
 
The loss drops Texas State to 17-4 this season, and the Bobcats are tied for first place in the Sun Belt Conference standings with Georgia State at 6-2. Texas State returns home next Saturday, Feb. 2, and hosts UTA in a Sun Belt contest beginning at 4 p.m. in Strahan Arena.