Bobcats Clinch First Winning Season In 14 Years In Dominating Fashion On Senior Night

SAN MARCOS, Texas – On the final night playing in Strahan Coliseum, seniors Ojai Black, Bobby Conley and Kavin Gilder-Tilbury combined for 42 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists in the Texas State men’s basketball team’s 90-64 victory over South Alabama Monday night.

Gilder-Tilbury led the way with his third double-double of the season as he tied his career-high in points with 26 and grabbed 11 rebounds.

Gilder-Tilbury led the way with his third double-double of the season as he tied his career-high in points with 26 and grabbed 11 rebounds.

The Bobcats improve to 17-11 on the season and 10-6 in the Sun Belt Conference while the Jaguars drop to 13-16 and 6-10 in conference play. With the win, Texas State is guaranteed a winning season for the first time

With the win, Texas State is guaranteed a winning season for the first time in 14 years and remain alive for a top-four seed in the upcoming SBC Tournament.

Nijal Pearson got the scoring going on the opening possession with a three-pointer from the top of the arc. The triple kick-started a 10-0 run capped off by an old fashion three-point play by Black.

Texas State eventually extended the lead to 13-2 when Gilder-Tilbury converted an and-1 opportunity.

USA was able to get to within seven thrice with the last being with 5:40 remaining at 29-22.

The Bobcats would close the half on a 16-5 run capped off by Gilder-Tilbury knocking down a three-pointer from beyond NBA range just before the clock struck zero.

To open the second half, the Jaguars scored 14 of the first 20 points to cut their deficit to 10 with the only points for Texas State coming on two Gilder-Tilbury three-pointers.

Black snapped USA’s scoring stretch with a three-pointer from the right corner to beat the shot clock. It was also the first of seven consecutive points scored by the point guard to extend the lead to 58-42.

Gilder-Tilbury hit a trey while getting fouled and converted the rare four-point play to put the Bobcats up by 27, their largest lead of the game, with 5:01 remaining.

Rounding out the scoring in the game for Texas State was Nathan Josephs knocking down an off-balance three-pointer just before the shot clock ran out.

Nedeljko Prijovic threw down a dunk to reach double-figures and Deris Duncan added a slam with 0.2 remaining for the team’s final points.

Pearson netted 15 points, 12 coming in the first half, with two treys and was a perfect 3-for-3 at the free throw line.

The Beaumont, Texas native also grabbed three rebounds and dished out four assists. Black added 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting, was 3-of-3 at the charity stripe and handed out five assists.

Coming off the bench, Marlin Davis scored a career-high 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Prijovic recorded his second double-digit scoring game of the season with 10 points as he made 3-of-4 shots and converted all four of his free throw attempts.

The Belgrade, Serbia native also grabbed seven rebounds, had three assists and two steals.

While he only scored two points, Bobby Conley helped the team out in other ways. The senior guard set a new career-high with six assists and grabbed four rebounds.

As a team, Texas State made a season-high 58.6 percent (34-58) from the field and 92.9 percent (13-14) at the charity stripe. The Bobcats recorded a season-high 25 assists while holding USA to nine and forcing 13 turnovers.

Next for the Bobcats is a trip to take on Louisiana Thursday night at 7:15 p.m. to begin the final weekend of the regular season.

For the latest on Texas State men’s basketball, visit the official website of Texas State athletics at www.txstatebobcats.com, follow the team on Twitter at @TxStateMBB, Instagram at @TxStateMBB and like on Facebook at /TexasStateMensBasketball.

Box Score: http://txstatebobcats.com/boxscore.aspx?path=mbball&id=4755