HONOLULU – The Texas State men's basketball team (1-0) opened the 2016-17 season with a 61-57 victory over Florida Atlantic (0-1) in the first game of the Outrigger Resorts Rainbow Classic at the 'Iolani School. Senior Kavin Gilder-Tilbury and freshman Nijal Pearson were the lone players in the game to reach double-figures, combining for 37 points.
 
The Bobcats are 1-0 on the season and the Owls are 0-1. It was the third consecutive season opening victory for Texas State under head coach Danny Kaspar.
 
Maljhum McCrea scored the first points of the season for Texas State with a jumper from just inside the free throw line to tie the game 2-2. After FAU hit a three-pointer, the Bobcats went on a 9-0 run with Pearson scoring the first seven points.
 
Turnovers and ice cold shooting allowed the Owls to go up 26-19 with just over four minutes left in the opening stanza. Texas State held FAU scoreless the rest of the half and scored five points. Three came from Nedeljko Prijovic on his first collegiate shot and Courtney Julien and Pearson made a free throw apiece.
 
Pearson opened the scoring with a floater after McCrea blocked an Owls' shot. McCrea followed with a jumper from just inside the three-point arc on the next possession to give the Bobcats a 28-26 advantage.
 
FAU's Jeantal Cylla made two free throws at the 17:16 mark to tie the game. Gilder-Tilbury answered with a triple 15 seconds later and Texas State would not trail the rest of the game. The senior gave the Bobcats their largest lead of the game, 51-40, when he hit a three-pointer with 9:09 left to play.
 
The Owls were able to pull to within three with 2.8 seconds to play when Nick Rutherford hit a trey. Ojai Black was fouled after he received the ensuing in-bound pass and converted his first attempt at the charity stripe to seal the victory.
 
Scoring a game-high 19 points was Gilder-Tilbury on 6-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. He was also 4-for-5 at the free throw line and grabbed seven rebounds. Pearson had a fantastic collegiate debut with 18 points as he went 7-for-12 from the field, grabbed four rebounds and recorded a game-high three steals.
 
Bobby Conley retrieved a game-high eight rebounds to set a new career best. McCrea matched his career-high of two blocks in the game as well.
 
Coming off the bench, Marlin Davis scored seven points as he made all three of his shot attempts and Prijovic netted five on his two field goals.
 
The Bobcats continue play in the Aloha State on Sunday at 9 p.m. CT against Hawaii in the Stan Sheriff Center.
 
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.