SAN MARCOS, Texas – The Texas State men's basketball team dropped its first Sun Belt Conference game of the season Monday night in Strahan Coliseum to conference newcomer Coastal Carolina 60-53.
 
With the loss, the Bobcats are now 8-6 overall and 1-1 in SBC play while the Chanticleers improve to 6-9 and 1-1 in league action.


 
CCU jumped out to an 8-1 advantage to open the game. Immanuel King tallied the lone point for Texas State during the stretch with a free throw.
 
Following a layup by Josh Coleman at the 16:03 mark to give the visitors a 10-3 lead, the Bobcats held the Chanticleers scoreless for the next 8:10 while scoring 14 themselves. Kavin Gilder-Tilbury had eight points and Nedeljko Prijovic added four during the stretch that was capped off by back-to-back fastbreak slams from the duo.
 
A jumper by Gilder-Tilbury with 50 seconds to play in the period gave Texas State a 27-24 advantage heading into halftime.
 
The Bobcats kept CCU at bay in the second half until consecutive layups allowed the Chanticleers to take a 32-31 lead with just under 14 minutes left in the contest. CCU eventually went up by five following a three-pointer by Elijah Wilson at the 7:53 mark.
 
Six straight points from Texas State, four of which came courtesy of Gilder-Tilbury, gave the Bobcats a one-point lead. The senior from Houston knocked down a long jumper to extend the lead to 50-48 with 3:32 left to play. The Chanticleers responded by ended the game on a 12-3 run with any chance of a comeback thwarted when CCU was a timeout with 29.0 seconds left during a loose ball scramble and the Bobcats down by three.
 
Gilder-Tilbury scored a game-high 18 points and shared the team rebounding lead with King at six apiece. The junior, who was making his first career start in a Texas State uniform, netted nine points that included a 5-for-8 performance at the free throw line.
 
Both Bobby Conley and Marlin Davis dished out a game-high four assists. Conley also added two steals and Davis finished with three rebounds.
 
The Bobcats forced CCU into 15 turnovers and tallied 15 points off them while turning the ball over a season-low six times themselves.
 
Next for Texas State is a meeting with UTA at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday in Strahan Coliseum. The game will be broadcast on Spectrum Sports
 
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.