Georgia State men’s basketball improved their record Saturday at the Sports Arena to 9-4 and 2-0 in the Sun Belt with an 82-69 win over the University of Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans.
The game began for the Panthers early on as Markus Crider’s accidentally elbowed Ryann Green’s in the mouth, knocking out one of his teeth. Green would be taken out of the game and Kevin Ware took his place.
Georgia State scored the first five points of the game with a three from Ryan Harrow and a two-pointer off a jump hook from T.J. Shipes, who start for this game after sitting out the matchup vs. UL-Monroe with abdominal issues.
The Trojans responded with a three-pointer by James Reid and a slam dunk from James White, tying the score at 5.
Ware then placed a tipin off his own miss as the Panthers retook the lead at 7-5, but followed it by Reid’s second made shot from behind the three-point arc. The Trojans went ahead 8-7, but Shipes upped his point total to four as Georgia State went back ahead 9-8.
Roger Woods made two free throws after being fouled by Shipes as UALR went ahead 10-9.
Woods then increased his point total to four as the Trojans went ahead 12-9. Shipes only made one of two free throws after being fouled by Woods, but a layup from White off an assist from J.T. Thomas gave the Trojans a 14-10 lead.
Ware made a pair of free throws after being fouled by Woods to bring Georgia State within two at 14-12.
After UALR’s Ben Dillard put in a three making the Trojans’ lead grow to five at 17-12, the Panthers embarked on a 5-0 run with a two-point jumper by Ware and a three-point jumper by Harrow to even the score at 17. The scoring streak prompted a timeout from UALR.
With the score tied at 19, Maurius Hill made one of two from the line after being fouled by Ware, but a two-pointer from Ware gave Georgia State a 21-20 lead.
The score later became 23-22 in favor of the Panthers. Afte White was charged with a foul against Shipes, who made two free throws, the Georgia State lead became 25-22. Reid’s third three then tied it up at 25.
The score tied at 27 before Harrow led a 7-0 Panthers run, giving his team a 34-27 lead. UALR closed in with a three from Mareik Isom and a two from Gus Leeper. But at 34-32, R.J. Hunter’s first points of the game increased the Georgia State lead to 37-32, the score heading into halftime.
UALR’s White and Georgia State’s Ware would score the first points for their respective teams as the Panthers’ lead became 39-34.
Hillard scored a layup cutting the UALR deficit to three at 39-36, then Woods fouled Crider, who made one of two from the line.
Harrow was charged with a technical foul for arguing with an official. Five consecutive points from Reid made the score 41-40 in favor of the Trojans, but two-point baskets from Crider and Ware gave Georgia State a three-point edge at 44-41, but a three from Thomas tied it again at 44. Crider then placed the Panthers ahead with a two-pointer by a margin of 46-44.
With the score 47-45, another lead change occurred when Dillard placed a three for a 48-47 score. Another occurred when Harrow upped his point total to 18 as Georgia State led 49-48.
Jalen Brown and J.T. Thomas traded threes as the game’s score became 52-51. After another Harrow layup, with over nine minutes remaining, Josh Hagins was charged with a technical foul for arguing with an official.
This placed Hunter at the line as he made a pair of free throws. Harrow later made a couple of foul shots as the Georgia State lead grew to 58-51. Hunter was placed at the line again after being fouled by Dillard, but he only made one of two foul shots as Georgia State went ahead 59-51.
The Panthers took lead of 61-53 and 63-55. Ware then went to the line after being fouled by Dillard. He made both of his free throws giving the Panthers their biggest lead of the game–10 at 65-55.
Two more points each from Hunter and Ware extended the Georgia State run to 8-0 and their lead to 69-55. This became a 74-55 score with another Ware three and a dunk from Hunter.
A Dillard three-pointer was followed by a two-point layup by Jordan Session brining the score 76-58. The Trojans would get another three as Thomas increased his point total to 10, bringing the score 76-61.
Two more free throws by Hunter increased his point total to 14 and the Georgia State lead to 78-61 before a 4-0 UALR run closed the gap 78-65. The Panthers answered with a free throw from Dennis and two points from Session, expanding their lead back out to 81-65.
A two-point basket from Jerron Washington of UALR was followed by a made free throw by Isaiah Dennis after being fouled by Thomas.
With seven seconds left, Dillard made a layup bringing the final score 82-69. Georgia State earned their second victory in Sun Belt play this season.
Men’s basketball faces Texas State from the Sports Arena at 7 p.m. on Monday.
| Georgia State | UALR |
|---|---|
| Harrow: 22 points | Ware: 21 points |
| Reid: 14 points | Dillard: 14 points |
