The Georgia Southern men’s basketball defeated the conference leading Texas State Bobcats in an exciting and aggressive game Saturday night.

Following a big loss to University of Texas-Arlington on Thursday, Head Coach Mark Byington stressed the importance of defense and slowing down the ball.

Tonight GS showed discipline, poise, and strong teamwork skills as they took down the Bobcats.

Senior forward Montae Glenn, tallying 13 points and 10 rebounds, freshman guard Elijah McCadden with 15 points and eight rebounds, and senior guard Tookie Brown with 17 points and two rebounds led the team, but there were big plays by freshman guard Calvin Wishart and redshirt-sophomore guard Quan Jackson as well.

Glenn, unsatisfied with his performance from last game, knew that bouncing back was important to boost the team momentum for next game, against rival Georgia State. In his final moments of the game, he was given a standing ovation by the students in Hanner Fieldhouse by his solid performance on both sides of the ball.

“Like Coach B. said, we couldn’t let one loss turn into two losses,” Glenn said. “We couldn’t let it drag on. We had to move on and we knew what we had to do coming into this game.”

Byington was pleased with the amount of effort the team displayed tonight.

“I hope we’re gonna be onto something, that our guys understand the importance of defense,” Byington said. “I thought we were really committed to defense tonight and that’s what it took. I’m excited about the growth of this team.”

GS averaged 47.2 percent from the field and 84 percent from the free throw line. This is a significant improvement from the past two games’ 44 percent. They maintained the lead for almost 34 minutes and the bench performed very well, scoring 11 points.

After this huge win, GS is tied with UTA for third place in the conference behind Texas State and Georgia State. Though GS improves to 13-8 and 5-3 in the conference, Brown isn’t focused on the standings.

“It’s hard not to look at it, but we try to avoid it,” Brown said. “We just try to get every win and after tonight, we just need to keep coming forward.”

GS will take on Georgia State next Saturday in a huge rivalry showdown on the road. Before going into some tough practices this week, Byington wants the team to recuperate here at home.

“We’ve been on the road a good amount this season and we need to rest,” Byington said. “Getting focused for Georgia State won’t be an issue for our guys. That’s usually one of the easier weeks of practice because our guys are pretty attentive.”

The Eagles will be back in action as they hit the road to take on conference rival Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia on Saturday. The game is set to start at 1 p.m. and you can stream this game on ESPN+.

Amanda Arnold, The George-Anne Sports Reporter, gasports@georgiasouthern.edu