Photos by Dayne Francis | The Signal
Georgia State opened the regular season with an 111-69 win on Nov. 12 against Thomas.
Seniors Willie Clayton and Jeremy Hollowell put on a stellar performance in front of an energized Georgia State crowd.
Clayton, who made his first regular season debut with the Panthers, finished the game with 13 points, 11 rebounds, and five blocks. Although this is just the first game of the season, Clayton has a great chance to dominate a Sun Belt Conference that is not accustomed to defending a versatile power forward who can bully any opposing defender on the low block, while also creating havoc on the other end of the ball.
“He understands it- this defense and the way we play our defense helps him because really he’s a great communicator,” head coach Ron Hunter said, in regards to Clayton’s comprehension of the defense. “And then he brings a physical presence to us- he’s a walking double-double, and he gives us a great identity.”
Hollowell is another asset that this Georgia State team enjoys. He had 17 points in the first half and finished the game with a team-high 23 points. Hollowell also contributed to the Panthers satisfactory shooting performance from the free-throw line, shooting an impressive 11-12 on the night. Collectively the Panthers shot 78 percent from the line.
Georgia State received a spark from their bench players as well. Jeff Thomas, a prolific shooter for the Panthers, went 2-2 from beyond the arc and gave the team a boost off of the bench with 17 points while Austin Donaldson contributed 10 points to the team’s total.
D’Marcus Simonds is another player who made his long-awaited season debut for the Panthers, as Coach Hunter inserted him into the starting lineup—something he rarely does for freshmen.
“It was ok,” Coach hunter said in regards to Simonds’ performance. “Again, one of the things is we are still nursing Malik [Benlevi] back. Right now, Malik would be starting in that position.”
Benlevi suffered an injury in the second exhibition game, but he managed to play 17 minutes and tallied eight points.
With Friday night’s win, Coach Hunter now has 104 wins at Georgia State and moved ahead of Charles “Lefty” Driesell and into second on the Georgia State’s all-time win list. He is just three shy of Bob Reinhart’s school-record of 107 wins.
The Panthers scored 100 points or more for the first time in just under two years. Georgia State last crossed the century mark with 115 points against Tennessee Temple on Nov. 14, 2014. Georgia State improved to 27-4 all-time when scoring more than 100 points.
The Panthers had a knack for creating turnovers with 16 steals, although they started the first half rather sluggish. Thomas took an early 13-11 lead as Javoris Cooks knocked down three 3-pointers. He finished the game with game-high 24 points.
Soon after, the Panthers ramped up their defensive intensity and managed to take a 32-19 lead with 7:17 remaining in the first half. From there, the Panthers annihilated their opponent the rest of the match.
Redshirt-sophomore Devin Mitchell and senior Justin Seymour each scored eight points.
The Panthers will face Auburn on Monday night at 9 p.m. The game will air live on the SEC Network and WatchESPN.
