Georgia Southern tops Texas St. 67-64

STATESBORO, Ga. (AP) — Ike Smith scored 18 points and had the second of consecutive 3-pointers by Georgia State as the Eagles scored the last 17 points of the game to pull out a 67-64 win over Texas State in the Sun Belt Conference opener on Thursday night.

A three-point play by Eric Terry at the 2:43 mark and Nijal Pearson’s 3-pointer at 1:57 had put the Bobcats on top 64-60. But Calvin Wishart quickly answered with a 3-pointer with 1 1/2 minutes left.

Mason Harrell missed the front end of a one-and-one, leading to Smith’s 3 at 1:07.

Texas State had a pair of turnovers but the Eagles made just one of four free throws before Pearson’s 3 at the buzzer was off target.

David-Lee Jones Jr. had 15 points for Georgia Southern (7-4), which earned its fifth consecutive home victory. Elijah McCadden added 6 points.

Terry had 17 points for the Bobcats (7-5), Isiah Small added 16 and Pearson had 11 points and seven rebounds.