STATESBORO, Ga. – Trailing by eight with over 14 minutes to play, the Texas State men's basketball team came back to knot the score with 55 second left after a three-point from Kavin Gilder-Tilbury. However, late game heroics from Georgia Southern ended the Bobcats' chances in a hard fought 66-62 defeat Saturday night in the Hanner Fieldhouse.
 
Texas State drops to 9-11 overall and 3-8 in the Sun Belt Conference while the Eagles are now 10-12 on the season and 6-6 in conference play.
 
Emani Gant recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. With his final board, he is now tied for 19th with Matt Staff (2010-13) and David Skyes (1999-03) on the program's career list with 498.

Leading the Bobcats in scoring was Ethan Montalvo with 16 points, six coming at the free throw line. Gilder-Tilbury recorded 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out a game-high three assists. Also reaching double figures was Cameron Naylor with 10 points. The lone starter to not reach double digits was Ojai Black, netting eight points.
 
Coming off the bench, Anthony Roberson retrieved seven rebounds and scored three points.
 
Tookie Brown finished with a game-high 25 points, 18 coming in the first half, for GS as he made 8-of-10 field goals and was 4-for-5 from beyond the arc. Mike Hughes tallied 18 points and was the only other Eagle to score at least 10 points.
 
A Hughes three-pointer gave GS a 49-41 lead with 14:36 to play in the game. Gilder-Tilbury got a put back bucket after retrieving his own miss to make it a two-point game at the 10:20 mark but Hughes answered with another trey the next time down the court to make it 55-51 for the Eagles.
 
Back-to-back buckets from Naylor cut TXST's deficit to one with just under eight and a half minutes to go. Neither team scored until Hughes hit a jumper two second past the seven minute mark. The Bobcats answered back with a basket by Montalvo a minute later.
 
Two free throws by Gant gave the Bobcats a 59-58 lead with 5:25 to play. It was the first time that they had led since there was 6:02 left in the first half.
 
A scoring drought lasting 4:30 allowed GS to go back in front by three. Gilder-Tilbury silence the crowd with his game-tying triple with a little over 55 seconds left on the clock. However, Ike Smith hit his only three-pointer of the game on the Eagles next possession. He then striped Montalvo before he could get a long range shot attempt off and Brown sunk a free throw to seal the game.
 
The Eagles jumped out to an 11-4 lead in the first four minutes of the game thanks to two treys from Brown. Accounting for TXST's points were Gilder-Tilbury and Montalvo with a jumper apiece.
 
Both teams struggled between the first and second media timeout to find the bottom of the basket. The lone score during the four and a half minute stretch was a layup courtesy of Naylor.
 
Montalvo was fouled on a three-point attempt at the 7:18 mark and sunk all three of his attempts to make it 16-15 in favor of the Eagles. Naylor gave the Cats their first lead of the game, 17-16, when he grabbed his own miss free throw for a layup.
 
The lead would not last as GS responded with a 10-3 run over a 3:27 span. Montalvo ended the run when he was again fouled on a three-pointer and made all of his charity stripe shots. Naylor recorded the final points of the first half when he drove the lane to slam the ball down with just over 46 seconds remaining on the clock to pull the Bobcat to within 33-27.
 
A four-game homestand awaits Texas State that begins Tuesday at 8 p.m. against rival UT Arlington. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.