The Georgia State men’s basketball team continued its hot streak Saturday afternoon, defeating the Texas State Bobcats 81-69 and cruising to a seventh straight win. The leading scorers were redshirt guards Justin Roberts and Corey Allen, finishing with 17 each.
Three other players finished in double figures. Senior guard Kane Williams had 12, guard Nelson Phillips added 12 off the bench and guard Damon Wilson had 11.
The Panthers managed to win despite trailing for most of the game. The Bobcats shot 11 more free throws than the Panthers. The Panthers trailed 17-3 for the first seven minutes and managed to only trail by three, 38-35 at halftime.
“We just settled in. Coach Lanier talked to us and told us to calm down. Our shot selection was good,” Wilson said. “We knew that they were going to fall. We just had to key in on defense a little bit more because they were getting a lot of open shots.”
The Panthers trailed by one with 5:48 left in the game and closed the game on a 17-4 run, thanks to the scoring of Phillips, Roberts and Williams. They achieved this after shooting 36.1% in the first period and then 56.5% in the second period.
The Panthers also managed to hold the Bobcats to 36.5% shooting for the entire game, including 22.2% from 3-point range. Coach Lanier complimented his team’s defensive effort and overall team play.
“We finished strong and we made some bad decisions at the end as well, but I’m proud of them,” Lanier said.
The Panthers will face off against a strong SMU team in Dallas on Dec. 23 and will take seven days off before playing another home game against Middle Georgia on Dec. 30, the final game before the new year.
