NEW ORLEANS – The Texas State men's basketball team fell short Sunday afternoon in Lakefront Arena in the Sun Belt Conference Championship game 59-53 to Troy.
 
The Bobcats drop to 20-13 on the season while the Trojans are now 22-14 and head to the NCAA Tournament.
 
Both teams got off to a slow start offensively thanks to strong defensive play from both squads. Kavin Gilder-Tilbury got the scoring going with a layup off a feed from Immanuel King at the 18:11 mark. Troy would tie the game just over a minute later.
 
Nedeljko Prijovic hit a three-pointer from the left wing to give Texas State a 9-7 advantage after the Trojans took their first lead of the game on a trey. Troy followed with an 8-0 run that was snapped by a layup by Prijovic.
 
Two free throws and a mid-range jumper from Ojai Black cut the deficit to 17-15. Troy responded by scoring the next eight points to take a 10-point lead, their largest of the contest. The scoring drought was snapped when Nijal Pearson knocked down two free throws.
 
Black got to the rim for a layup and King put back a missed shot to close the scoring in the period as Trojans took a 27-21 lead into halftime.
 
After only playing five minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, Gilder-Tilbury scored the Bobcats' first seven points of the second half. Bobby Conley knocked down a three-pointer from the top of the arc to tie the game at 33-33 at the 14:08 mark.
 
Following two free throws from Troy's Wesley Person, Prijovic made a layup to again tie the game, this time at 35-35. Six straight points by the Trojans put them in the lead for the rest of the game.
 
The Bobcats were able to get within one twice. The first time was when Gilder-Tilbury hit a three-pointer and was fouled. He converted the four-point play with 4:58 left. With 1:42 remaining, Pearson blocked a triple attempt, received the outlet from Black, converted the layup and was fouled. He hit the free throw to make it 51-50 in favor of the Troy.
 
Gilder-Tilbury led all players with 19 points, 17 of which came in the second half. He made 7-of-11 shots and connected on 4-of-7 three-point attempts.
 
Having a monster day down low was King. The junior scored 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting, grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and tied his career-high with five blocks.
 
Both Pearson and Prijovic added seven points apiece with Pearson grabbing seven boards. Black dished out a game-high five assists.
 
Gilder-Tilbury and King were both named to the SBC All-Tournament team. Joining them were Louisiana's Jay Wright and Troy's Jeremy Hollimon, Jordon Varnado and Person, who was named the tournament Most Outstanding Player.
 
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.