LORMAN &045; Things are starting to get ugly for the Alcorn State men’s basketball team.

The Braves have started the season with five straight losses, the fifth coming Saturday afternoon at the hands of Texas State, which took a 65-49 win.

The Braves played poorly in the first half, then stormed back in the second half but eventually fell to the Bobcats. Alcorn looked confused and out of sorts on offense, sometimes unable to execute plays properly.

&uot;(Getting people to work together) is the main problem,&uot; West said. &uot;We’ll just keep working, and hopefully some guys will step up and we’ll play better.&uot;

The Braves managed just 14 points in the opening half and trailed by 15 at the break. Texas State’s inside presence, led by forward Zach Allison, who had 18 points and 14 rebounds, was too much for the Braves.

Alcorn stepped up the defensive intensity coming out of halftime, getting five steals and making things more difficult for the Bobcats. That led to a few easy buckets for the Braves. The helter-skelter offensive attack, running constantly, in the second half got the Braves back in the game temporarily, but when the shots stopped going in, Alcorn fell right back.

The Braves made things interesting in the second half, closing the gap to 11 after an 8-3 Alcorn run. During that run, Alcorn’s shots finally started falling, including a four-point play (a three-pointer plus a free-throw) from guard Delvin Thompson.

But in the end, the deficit from the first half proved too much to overcome.

&uot;We tried to come back,&uot; Alcorn head coach Samuel West said. &uot;We cut it to 11, but that was all.&uot;

Texas State got its first road win of the young season and moved over .500 for the first time this season with a 2-1 record.

&uot;Any road win is a good win,&uot; Texas State head coach Dennis Nutt said. &uot;They started heating up on us in the second half, hitting their shots. But we’re proud of our guys, they hung tough.&uot;

DeAndr Jones led the Braves in scoring with 12 points, but most of his shots came from freelancing rather than playing within the offense. Jones made only four of 17 attempts from the field and just one of seven attempts from behind the arc. As a team, Alcorn shot 29.7 percent from the field.

Alcorn is feeling some growing pains. With three sophomores in the starting lineup, the Braves are still searching for their identity as a team, West said.

&uot;We’re a young basketball team and we’re trying to mesh styles, personalities out there,&uot; West said. &uot;I’m still trying to find the right people.&uot;

The Braves lost the battle in most of the major statistical categories, with a lesser shooting percentage, fewer rebounds and fewer assists.

Alcorn’s defense did get more blocks and force more turnovers, but it wasn’t enough to make a serious difference in the game.

Texas State’s Allison led all scorers in the game with 18 points. He hit four of six attempts from behind the arc was seven-of-14 from the field.

&uot;He got 18 points, 14 rebounds. He really did some great things for us,&uot; Nutt said. &uot;He got a couple of threes early on that gave us a cushion.&uot;