By JOE VOZZELLI
Sports Editor
The basketball gods giveth, the basketball gods taketh away.
For most of Thursday night's eventual 77-74 overtime loss to Little Rock, Texas State outplayed the first-place visitors.
Even without leading scoring Emani Gant, who drew a costly technical foul during the first half and was largely a non-factor (read: the senior only played 10 minutes), the Bobcats surged to a 38-28 advantage at the break.
And due in large part to Ethan Montalvo's barrage of 3-pointers, including a go-ahead triple with 1:23 left in regulation, Texas State (8-7, 2-4 Sun Belt) maintained the lead for almost 37 minutes of Thursday's proceedings in front of 3,357 fans inside Strahan Coliseum.