Georgia State men’s basketball closed out this week’s Coaches vs. Cancer Classic with a 75-73 victory over South Alabama, leaving the Panthers the lone undefeated squad of the four participants.
Both teams began playing inconsistently, with six turnovers each in the first half, but Georgia State showed to be more effective with 12 points off turnovers compared
to four for South Alabama.One player stood out for each team. Augustine Rubit would tally 20 points for the Jaguars, while Manny Atkins would give Georgia State 19 points along with two assists and four rebounds.The second half would see South Alabama’s scoring effort more balanced as Xavier Roberson had nine and Rubit would get 11. Rubit would finish with a double-double—31 points and 11 rebounds.On the Panthers’ side, guard Devonta White showed to be an important asset fir the team. Despite leaving the court due to a potential injury, White returned and finished with nine points, three assists, and three steals.
Despite the good offensive efforts, both teams showed shortcomings on the defense, as they would both encounter foul trouble.
Mychal Ammons and Freddie Goldstein each had four fouls for South Alabama. On the Georgia State side, James Vincent would also finish with four fouls.
South Alabama ended with the last possession of the game while down two points, but the Jaguars were not able to get a shot off and trailed 75-73.
After the game, Georgia State head coach Ron Hunter was pleased about the experience the team is obtaining.
“Now that you can put experience with it, that’s the only thing that’s missing from this group is experience,” Hunter said. “And we’re getting a ton of experience from playing at Duke, playing at BYU, coming in here to win on a buzzer-beater, holding on to a lead, we’ve seen everything in the first few weeks of the season.”
Atkins would finish the game as the leading scorer for Georgia State with 26. He would also provide seven rebounds, five assists, and one steal.
“I told myself from the past game, to take it game by game and just play hard,” Atkins said. “Keep playing hard out there and everything’s going to come. And today my first few shots, you know, they fell. And, after that, you know, I started getting myself going. I was feeling good about every shot I took. You know, I just kept on shooting.”
Georgia State’s next game will be on Monday at the Sports Arena when they take on East Carolina at 7 p.m.
