HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Texas State men's basketball team hung with the co-leading Southern Miss but came up short as the Golden Eagles pulled out a 67-58 win Saturday afternoon in Reed Green Coliseum.
 
"A hard-fought game. Thought the guys played hard. We hard opportunities down the stretch to win the game but came up short. Certainly disappointed but not discouraged at all. I like my team and think we have enough in the locker room to make a run down the stretch this season."
 
The loss drops TXST to 11-12 overall and 4-6 in the Sun Belt while USM is now 19-4 and 8-2 in league play.
 
Both NIghael Ceaser and Jordan Mason led the Bobcats with 12 points, netting 10 and eight points, respectively, the in the second half. Also reaching double-digits was Drue Drinnon as he finished with 10.
 
Tyrel Morgan grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds and netted eight points. Nearly recording a double-digit scoring game as well as Nate Martin with nine points while making 3-of-6 shots and going 3-for-4 at the charity stripe.
 
The first 20 minutes saw the Golden Eagles lead for nearly 19 of them. The exception came just over five minutes into the contest when Drinnon knocked down a three-pointer and Mason followed with a layup to give the Bobcats an 11-10 advantage.
 
A second triple from Drinnon cut the deficit to one at the 2:13 mark. However, USM would end the half on a 7-1 run to take a 34-27 lead into halftime.
 
Texas State held the Golden Eagles to just three points, all coming at the free throw line, over the first seven minutes of the second half as USM missed its first eight shots of the period. In that time, the Bobcats were able to cut the deficit to 37-36 capped off by a layup courtesy of Mason.
 
Down by four, Mason scored four straight points and Martin powered home a layup to put TXST ahead 55-53 with 3:23 to play. The Golden Eagles answered with a three-pointer the next time down the court and would close the game by making 10 free throws while the Bobcats were limited to just four points the rest of the game.
 
Next up for the Bobcats is a trip to Louisiana to take on the Ragin' Cajuns at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.
 
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