On Monday night at the Sports Arena, Georgia State men’s basketball closed out its exhibition season in emphatic fashion with a dominant 89˗58 victory over the Shorter Hawks. This game was all Panthers from the opening tip.
“This is great, but we don’t want to be great in November,” Head Coach Ron Hunter said. “If you’re great in November, there’s only way to go and that’s down.”
Unlike the first exhibition matchup that saw the Panthers pick up their offensive attack after a slow start, Georgia State got off to a fast start against Shorter as they scored 12 of the game’s first 16 points. This included four points each from Ryan Harrow and Markus Crider.
The Hawks closed the gap to four as they went on a 6˗2 run prior to the midway point of the first half. The Panthers expanded their lead to eleven at 25˗12, which included Kevin Ware’s first made three˗point shot in a Georgia State uniform.
The Panthers would maintain their lead throughout the duration of the half with the halftime score at 40˗24 in favor of Georgia State.
| Georgia State | Ryan Harrow: 15 points | Markus Crider: 8 points, 6 rebounds | R.J. Hunter: 8 points, 7 rebounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shorter | Brock Rowan: 6 points, 2/5 3 pointers | Dedric Ware: 5 points, 2 rebounds | Jordan Jacks: 4 points |
Georgia State’s lead would continue into the second half, and increase from 16 to 20 at (50˗30) with just under 16 minutes to play in the game. That lead would grow to 25 at 57˗32 and later to 29 (63˗34).
The Panther lead only grew with a 16˗7 run that saw Hunter increase his point total to 18 with a slam dunk on a fastbreak and a three˗pointer.
With four minutes and 39 seconds left to play and the game far out of reach for shorter, Georgia State took out many of the starters and put in its backups, including freshman Michael Pickney II and sophomore Isaiah Dennis.
The final score would be 89˗58 Panthers.
Georgia State will open the regular season on Friday night at the Sports Arena at 7 p.m. when they face the Tennessee Temple Crusaders.
| Georgia State | Ryan Harrow: 21 points, 9˗17 shooting | R.J. Hunter: 20 points, 10 rebounds, 7˗15 shooting | Markus Crider: 16 points, 8˗9 shooting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shorter | Jordan Jacks: 16 points, 9 rebounds, 6˗10 shooting | Gerald Williams: 9 points, 4˗6 shooting | Chris Daniels: 7 points, 3˗7 shooting |
