Pearson lifts Texas St. past Louisiana-Monroe 64-63

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MOROE, La. (AP) — Nijal Pearson scored 23 points, including a game-winning free throw, and Texas State came from behind to beat UL Monroe 64-63 on Thursday night to win its third straight.

Chris Efretuei's free throw put the Warhawks up 63-60 with 1:14 to play, but Pearson tied it with a 3-pointer then scored the winning free throw with 10 seconds left. Isiah Small blocked JD Williams'layup attempt at the buzzer to seal it.

Alonzo Sule scored 10 points for the Bobcats (11-8, 4-4 Sun Belt Conference), who trailed 33-25 at halftime, a season low for first-half points. Mason Harrell, the Bobcats' second-leading scorer entering the matchup at 10 points per game, shot only 20% (1 of 5), but made five assists.

Tyree White scored 16 points and Michael Ertel and JD Williams scored 15 apiece for UL Monroe (6-11, 2-6), which has lost four straight.

Texas State plays Louisiana-Lafayette on the road on Saturday. Louisiana-Monroe faces Texas-Arlington at home on Saturday.