Texas State Men’s Basketball Takes Down Green Wave

NEW ORLEANS – A three-pointer with 14 seconds left in regulation by Kavin Gilder-Tilbury tied the game. Bobby Conley then hit a big triple with just over 30 seconds in overtime to give the Texas State men’s basketball team a 69-66 victory over Tulane in the Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse Friday afternoon.

The Bobcats conclude their non-conference slate with a 7-5 record while the Green Wave fall to 3-9.

“It was a great comeback and character-building win for us. I would like to think we could build on this,” said head coach Danny Kaspar. “We had to fight hard to get this victory. I felt we were going to get a good showing from them after they had lost a home game before us and had three days to prepare. Kavin and Bobby hit big-time shots for us. It is a great Christmas present for us all.

Trailing 10-6 nine minutes into the game, the Bobcats scored nine consecutive points that began with Conley converting a rare four-point play. Gonzales, Louisiana native Courtney Julien followed the next time down the court with a three-pointer of his own.

The Green Wave responded with a 7-2 run to knot the score. Texas State would not let Tulane take the lead the rest of the half and go up by four after a layup by Conley with 1:54 left in the period.

After a free throw from Ojai Black put the Bobcats in front 29-28 early in the second half, the Green Wave scored six straight to take their largest lead of the game and forced Kaspar to call a timeout with 15:21 remaining.

Marlin Davis nailed a three-pointer to cut the deficit to one coming of the timeout. He then stepped in front of a pass on the ensuing Tulane possession and took it all the way for a layup to put Texas State back in the lead.

Over the final 9:44, the game was tied seven times. The last was the biggest as Gilder-Tilbury hit a three-pointer from the left wing with around 10 seconds left on the clock. Tulane got a shot off with two seconds to go but the shot went long to send the game to overtime.

Gilder-Tilbury powered his way to the basket for a layup despite taking contact to make it a 64-62 Texas State advantage at the 2:45 mark of the extra period. The Green Wave then score four straight to go back in front. The senior from Houston, Texas was fouled the next time down the court and knocked down both charity stripe attempts to again tie the game, 66-66.

After a missed trey by the Green Wave, Black found Conley open from beyond the arc near the right corner for the game-winning bucket with 38 seconds left.

Tulane missed a three-pointer and Nedeljko Prijovic had a chance to seal the victory at the charity stripe. However, he missed both of his attempts giving life to the Green Wave. With 2.7 seconds left, Tulane in bounded the ball but Conley knocked the ball away from the intended player and fell on the loose ball. He then passed the ball to Black to run out the few remaining tenths off the clock.

Gilder-Tilbury scored a game-high 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting, was 3-for-6 on three-pointers and made 4-of-5 at the free throw line. In the second half and overtime, the senior was 6-for-8 from the field and 3-of-4 on triples.

Conley netted 14 with a 3-for-4 performance from beyond the arc. He also grabbed four rebounds, dished out two assists and was credited with a steal. Also reaching double-figures was Nijal Pearson with 11. The freshman also grabbed a team-high six rebound.

Off the bench, Davis scored a career-high nine points on 4-of-7 shooting, handed out two assists and had a steal.

As a team, the Bobcats shot 41.7 percent (25-60) from the field and 45.0 percent (9-20) on three-point attempts. Texas State also went 10-for-14 (71.4%) at the charity stripe.

The victory was the first road win for the Bobcats this season and snapped a six-game skid in true road games dating back to last season. Texas State also earned its first overtime win since taking down Little Rock at home in double overtime on Jan. 8, 2015.

Sun Belt Conference play begins for the Bobcats on Saturday, December 31 at 4:30 p.m. against Appalachian State in Strahan Coliseum.

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=4739