STATESBORO – Tre Nottingham hit a free throw with 3.7 seconds left to lift Texas State to a 62-61 Sun Belt men's basketball victory over Georgia Southern Thursday night in Hanner Fieldhouse.

Nottingham drove to the basket and bumped into Jake Allsmiller, who was ruled to be inside the restricted circle and called for the blocking foul. The officials were able to check the monitor and confirmed the call.

Nottingham missed the first of two free throws but made the second. After a timeout, the Eagles inbounded the ball to Tookie Brown who dribbled up the floor and tried an 18-footer that hit the window and bounced off the front rim as the horn sounded.

Brown finished with 25 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals for the Eagles (14-7, 5-3), who suffered their first home loss of the season. Montae Glenn collected 12 points and eight rebounds.

Nijal Pearson posted 22 points, eight rebounds and three assists for Texas State (14-8, 7-2), and Nottingham finished with 12 points, four rebounds and four assists.

The story
With Texas State trailing 60-55 late in the contest, Pearson nailed a 3-pointer, and Nottingham rolled in a runner and was fouled as the shot clock expired. The junior hit the free throw to give the Bobcats a brief 61-60 lead, but Brown answered with a free throw at the other end to tie it with 1:12 to go, setting up the late heroics.

Trailing 38-32 early in the second half, Georgia Southern went on a 15-2 run to open 47-40 advantage. The Eagles forced eight Texas State turnovers and held the Bobcats to 2 for 8 from the field over the first 8:32 of the period, while Brown and Ike Smith each scored five points at the other end. 

Immanuel King and Nottingham each scored six points as Texas State jumped out to a 20-6 lead in the contest. Brown scored four points, and Smith nailed a triple in a 13-4 Eagle run that tied the score 28-28 with 5:05 left in the first half.

The Eagles were 2 of 21 from 3-point range in the contest while Texas State made 10 of 25.

Quotables from Head Coach Mark Byington
On the foul call on Allsmiller
"The rule is that if the official points down, he is calling that it would be a charge but his foot was inside the restricted circle. The official pointed, they can review that, and they did so you feel comfortable once they look at the camera that they made the right call."

On Brown's final shot
"We screened the zone, Jake made a good pass, and 3.7 is a good amount of time if you get a long enough outlet pass. Maybe he could have taken one more dribble in and that would have made a difference but to get a look as good as that is almost as good as you can ask for in that situation."

On the game
"The whole deal with this game, in basketball, in sports or in anything else is that you get what you deserve, and we didn't deserve to win tonight. We've always had extremely, close, competitive games with these guys every single year, and we came out almost not knowing the tone of the game and how the game was going to go, and I was disappointed in that. We just didn't have enough guys ready to play tonight, and that's on me. I have to get them ready and get them to understand the importance of preparing the right way and staying focused and doing everything right."

Next up
The Eagles play host to Sun Belt preseason favorite UTA Saturday in Hanner Fieldhouse. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m., and the game will be televised live on WSAV-CW and streamed on ESPN3. Promotions: Blue Out, Free glow sticks (while they last), Mike and Ike Night - recognition of Mike Hughes and Ike Smith for 1,000 career points plus for Mike and Ike Candy (while they last), Fran Florian recognition, Men's Basketball Alumni Recognition, Baseball Wall of Fame Recognition, Football Coach Lunsford and Staff Recognition.

Georgia Southern Athletics provides current information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, which is fully responsive across all mobile devices. Information on Eagle athletics can also be found through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics and Instagram.com/GSAthletics. To purchase tickets to Georgia Southern athletics events, visit GSEagles.com/tickets.

In order to expedite entry and provide a safe environment for all patrons and participants, Georgia Southern Athletics has implemented a Clear Bag Policy for all ticketed sporting events, effective Aug. 1, 2017. Fans can find the complete policy as well as an FAQ section at GSEagles.com/ClearBag.