Box Score SAN MARCOS, Texas – Frank Eaves torched the nets for a career-high 31 points and Appalachian State University men's basketball won its fourth-straight Sun Belt Conference contest in a 64-58 victory over Texas State on Saturday at Strahan Coliseum.

The Mountaineers (8-10, 5-4 Sun Belt) led for nearly the entire contest, but had to summon a late run to put the Bobcats (10-9, 4-6) away for good and earn yet another league victory.

It was obvious from the first five minutes of play that Saturday's game would be a slugfest as neither team was able to get in front by more than three points in the opening 10 minutes of play.

Texas State gained the early momentum when JaMarcus Weatherspoon connected on a layup with 15:57 on the clock to make it an 8-5 edge for the Bobcats in what would turn out to be their biggest lead of the game.

With the scored tied at 14-14 six minutes later, the Mountaineers reeled off a quick 9-2 run to grab a seven-point lead (23-16) on a pair of Jacob Lawsonfree throws with just under five minutes remaining in the opening period. The Bobcats closed out the half on a 10-5 run of their own to close the gap to just two points (28-26) at the break.

Things would open up offensively for Appalachian State over the game's final 20 minutes. Scores on back-to-back Mountaineer possessions in the first three minutes would stretch the lead to 32-26 on Michael Obacha's layup with 17:38 left to play.

Texas State recovered and chipped away at the lead before eventually tying it up at 34-34 when Ethan Montalvo nailed a three-pointer with a shade over 14 minutes to go.  With the score tied 37-37 moments later, Appalachian kick-started a 9-0 run on Dustin Clarke's layup at the 13:02 mark to take a 46-37 edge with eight minutes to go.

The Bobcats battled back to cut the deficit to three points (50-47) with just under five minutes to play, but the Mountaineers clamped down and scored seven-straight to push the lead to double-digits (57-47) and hit key free throws down the stretch to maintain the distance and send Texas State to its fourth-straight loss.

Eaves' career night came in a 10-of-16 effort from the floor, including 4-of-7 from long range. He also finished 7-of-9 at the charity stripe and fell just shy of his first career double-double with a career-high eight rebounds. Lawson added a career-high-tying nine points off the bench while Clarke scored eight and Tommy Spagnolo tied a career-high with three blocks.

Texas State was paced by Emani Gant's team-leading 16 points while D.J. Brown scored 12 and Montalvo poured in 11. Cameron Naylor chipped in with nine points and nine rebounds for the Bobcats.

On the night, the Mountaineers shot 40.7 percent (22-of-54) from the floor, including a 7-of-17 mark from long range, while holding Texas State to just 36.8 percent (21-of-57) from the floor, including an abysmal 3-of-17 from deep.

Appalachian State returns to action on Thursday when it travels to Georgia Southern for a 7:30 p.m. contest at Hanner Fieldhouse.

NOTES: Appalachian State improved to 1-1 all-time against Texas State ... the Mountaineers' current winning streak is the team's longest against Division I opponents since also winning four-straight from Feb. 19 - March 4, 2011 ... it is the team's longest winning streak against conference opponents since Feb. 2-12, 2011 ... Eaves is averaging 25.5 points per game during the team's winning streak ... he has eclipsed the 20-point mark in three of the team's last four games ... he has scored at least 20 points eight times this season ... he is connecting on 54.1 percent (20-of-37) from long range during the winning streak ... Appalachian State's coaching staff wore sneakers for the third-straight game in support of Coaches vs. Cancer.