BOONE, N.C. – Hot shooting and a large second half run allowed the Texas State men's basketball team to defeat Appalachian State 68-55 Monday night in the Holmes Center to give the Bobcats their best start in 14 seasons.
 
Texas State improved to 13-8 and 6-3 in the Sun Belt Conference for the best start since the 2002-03 campaign. The Mountaineers drop to 6-14 overall and 1-8 in league play.
 
"This is very pleasing victory. The players responded with the intensity that I was looking for after the win on Saturday," said head coach Danny Kaspar. "This was a great win for us and I am very pleased and happy for the whole team and staff."
 
With the win, the Bobcats also have won three-straight road games for the first time since 2012-13 season, swept a road weekend under Kaspar and best conference start since the 2010-11 season.
 
"We have been playing some pretty good basketball as of late," Kaspar said. "I am glad we are 13-8 at this point but we still have a lot of basketball left."
 
Texas State got off to a hot start hitting six of the first seven shots to take a 13-4 lead and forcing APP to call a timeout. During that span Nijal Pearson scored five points and Kavin Gilder-Tilbury added four to move into 11th place by himself on the school's career scoring list.
 
After an offensive slow down, the Bobcats connected of 7-of-8 shot attempts to take their largest lead of the game at 29-17. The Mountaineers responded by cutting the advantage to four with 1:13 left in the period thanks to three straight buckets in just over a minute.
 
Gilder-Tilbury connected on two free throw attempts and Pearson powered his way to the basket for a layup for the final points for either team and giving Texas State a 37-29 lead at halftime.
 
Both teams started out slow to open the second half combining to make four baskets in the first nine minutes. APP was able to cut the five with 10:34 showing on the clock.
 
With just over nine minutes left, Pearson converted an old-fashion three-point play to kick start an 18-2 run that lasted 5:14. Gilder-Tilbury closed out the scoring in the game for the Bobcats with a three-pointer with just over 14 seconds remaining.
 
Leading the way in scoring and rebounding was Pearson with 14 points and seven rebounds. He connected on 6-of-11 shot attempts and was 1-for-2 on three-pointers. The freshman also dished out two assists and was credited with two steals.
 
Gilder-Tilbury finished with 13 points to give him 1,151 in his career to move alone into 11 place on the program's career scoring list. He also grabbed six rebounds, blocked a game-high three shots and handed out two assists.
 
Ojai Black cracked double-digits in points with 10 on 4-of-7 shooting. The senior dished out a game-high six assists without turning the ball over.
 
Coming off the bench, Marlin Davis added nine points on 4-of-5 shooting and had a career-high two steals. Tyler Blount connected on both of his three-point attempts to finish with six points.
 
The Bobcats finished the game shooting 49.1 percent (27-55), was 5-for-11 (45.5%) on three-pointers and made 9-of-10 at the free throw line. The 90 free throw percentage is the highest by the Bobcats since Nov. 19, 2011 at UT Rio Grande Valley.
 
Next up for Texas State is a trip to UTA on Saturday for a 4:30 p.m. tip.
 
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.