For Georgia Southern’s Devince and Devonte Boykins, tonight will be one of the last chances they will get to step on the court together as teammates on the collegiate level.

For both brothers, it has been a long road getting to this game. Their playing days together started as soon as they were old enough to hold a basketball. Their mom was a three-sport athlete in college, and both of their parents played basketball professionally in Germany. Devonte, the younger of the pair, recalls watching Devince take on his dad in the driveway before he was old enough to play.

“(Basketball) is something that grew on both of us because our whole family played,” Devonte said.

The Boykins played on the same high school team for one year at East Rutherford in N.C. Their team won the state championship that year, something that Devince and his teammates had been building toward for four years. He was named MVP of the championship game after scoring 16 points and pulling nine rebounds.

Despite being just a freshman, Devonte was the third-leading scorer on the team and a key piece of the championship run.

“We had worked so hard for it. When my brother came in as a freshman, we (their other teammates) had worked for it and had built up to that point,” Devince said.

After graduating from high school, Devince committed to Marshall where he lettered for three years and started 16 games. After his junior season, he decided to transfer and was interested in GSU, partly because that’s where his younger brother was playing. Devonte had just completed his freshman season where he played in 25 games.

“The process was challenging,” Devince said. “I knew that I wanted to play with my brother again, but ultimately it came from Coach B (Mark Byington) with him accepting me to come here. He was excited about me coming and I told him I was on board.”

Coach Byington said he doesn’t treat them as brothers, but as individuals. It helps that they play different positions, have different skills sets and have different personalities.

“Devonte is a little more aggressive, a little more outgoing. Devince is an extremely athletic player but a little more quiet,” Byington said.

Prior to the final home game of the season tonight, the Boykins reflected on some of their favorite moments together on the court. Devonte recalled a close game when they were in high school.

“When we were in high school, I drove to the hole one time and threw the lob up. He went and got it and just tore the rim down,” Devonte said. “I’m not all about scoring and to see him dunk it and see the whole crowd get up, that excites me.”

For Devince, he picked a play from this season as his most memorable moment with his brother.

“Mine would be here at Southern,” Devince said. “We got a steal at half-court and I got my brother a pass to get his first dunk in his college career. For me to be able to get the assist on his dunk was great.”

Tonight is Senior Night for the Eagles. Devince is the lone senior on the Eagles this season. He said that it has been a “different” feeling, being the only senior and a first-year player at GSU.

“This is where you gotta grind it out. Just keep pushing. We know we can compete with any team in the league. I think we have a good chance of winning,” Devince said.