HATTIESBURG, Miss. – For the second straight season, Texas State and Southern Miss went to overtime in Reed Green Coliseum. Like last year, it would be the Golden Eagles (10-7, 4-1 Sun Belt) coming out on top with an 80-70 victory over the Bobcats (9-8, 2-3 Sun Belt).
 
Mark Drone led TXST offensively with 18 points, 16 of which came in the second half. He also grabbed a career-high eight rebounds and matched his career best of four steals. Kaden Gumbs contributed 15 points, six rebounds and four steals.
 
Netting 12 points and retrieving eight boards was DJ Hall. Also finishing in double figures with 10 points off the bench on 4-of-8 shooting was Franck Emmou.
 
Trailing 6-3, the Bobcats would hold the Golden Eagles scoreless for the next 7:36 but only netted eight points in that span. The game was tied or TXST held the lead until Dylan Brumfiield knocked down a jumper at the 3:04 mark to put the hosts up 23-22.
 
A fastbreak three-pointer from Emmou put the Bobcats back in front with just over a minute left in the period. However, Curt Lewis hit a triple of his own right before the halftime buzzer to send USM into halftime leading 29-28.
 
Drone began an 8-0 run for Texas State early in the second half to put the team ahead 36-31 with 16:47 showing on the clock. During the stretch, Drone scored six of the points with the other two coming from Gumbs.
 
The Bobcats held back-to-back layups for the Golden Eagles put them up by three. Hall would convert and old-fashion three-point play to tie the game at 48, but USM responded with consecutive three-pointers.
 
With less than four minutes remaining in regulation, Drone knocked down back-to-back treys to tie the game at 59. The teams would trade the lead until Drone ripped the ball away from an Eagle player and laid it in to put TXST ahead 65-64 with 1:16 on the clock.
 
Tylik Weeks knocked down a free throw to tie the game nearly 30 seconds later. He had an opportunity to put the hosts in front with 6.6 seconds to play but missed a flailing jumper attempt in the paint. Gumbs grabbed the board and took it all the way for a layup attempt but did not get a friendly bounce as the game would go to overtime.
 
After Weeks tipped in a miss for the opening bucket of the extra period, Robert Fields knocked down two free throws to again tie the contest. The Golden Eagles would then go on a 13-1 run over the next 4:09 to put the game away.
 
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