The Panthers men’s basketball team bounced back from their loss against SMU with an 83-53 win over Middle Georgia on Monday night, and have now won eight of their last nine games.
For Georgia State, potent perimeter play was key. Their exceptional three-point shooting and great defense on the other end forced the Knights to miss all 17 of their three-point attempts, while the Panthers connected 12 of 35.
The game was close for the first nine minutes, with the two teams going back and forth, but thanks to two dunks from Josh Linder, the Panthers dominated the game from that point on.
Redshirt sophomore guard Justin Roberts led the team with 22 points and 7 assists. B, both were game highs and, for him, career highs as well.
“We were just sharing the ball as a team,” Roberts said. “We had over 20 assists, and we were really just sharing the ball. They just kept finding me after I was hitting shots in the first half.”
Roberts had a great supporting cast as well, with three other starters scoring in double figures. Senior forward Damon Wilson had 13 points, redshirt junior guard Corey Allen scored 10 points and junior guard, Kane Williams, pitched in 10 points of his own.
There was a high-energy effort by the Panthers on both sides of the ball, scoring 25 points off of turnovers and 22 points on the fast break. Head Coach Rob Lanier was impressed with the team’s energy in the game.
“We expect all of those guys to play with high energy,” Lanier said. “Jalen, Joe, Josh, Chris. We need those guys to come in and play with motor.”
This is the final game of the 2019 for the Panthers. The first game of the new year will be at Appalachian State on Jan. 2.
