Georgia State fell to Coastal Carolina 81-69 to open their 2021 calendar year on Friday night.
All around, the Panthers struggled to compete with the Chanticleers for much of the game. Was it because Eliel Nsoseme missed the game? Considering he is their leading rebounder (17th in division-1 basketball at 10.6 a game), it could be.
Either way, the 52-35 rebounding differential tells you all you need to know about the Panthers’ second loss of the season, pushing their season record to 6-2.
Georgia State’s Justin Roberts scored a team-high 14 points along with five rebounds.
Kane Williams scored 12 on an inefficient 3-11 shooting from the field. His bread and butter came from the free-throw line, where he made all six of his attempts.
Corey Allen had a rare quiet night, scoring just 10 points on three shot attempts. Like Williams, the redshirt senior went six-for-six from the charity stripe.
As a team, the Panthers shot poorly: 35% from the field and 20% from three. However, they had their best performance from the season so far this year. They shot 20-26 at the line, good enough for 77% and well above the 60% clip they shot heading into the game.
On the winning side, the Chanticleers led for all but 32 seconds the entire night.
DeVante’ Jones scored 24 points to go along with 14 rebounds and six assists. He scored the Chanticleers first 13 points to open the second half – he scored 20 in the second half.
Deanthony Tipler scored 22 points, while Ebrima Dibba and Essam Mostafa each contributed 15. Mostafa also collected a team-high 16 rebounds–seven offensive, two less than the Panthers’ nine as a team.
The Chanticleers did not have a great shooting night either, though. They shot 43% from the field and a dreadful 26% from three-point range.
Point-blank, the rebounding numbers decided this game.
However, the Panthers will get a chance to redeem themselves tomorrow afternoon, as the two teams compete again at 3:00 p.m.
