Georgia State men’s basketball rewarded the home fans with a 83-62 victory over UT-Arlington on Thursday night at the Sports Arena. The win ups the Panthers’ record to 11-6 and their Sun Belt mark to 4-2.
“We forced 26 turnovers. We gave up too many offensive rebounds,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “But, defensively we were what we’ve been like all year. We did a nice job defensively, especially with our rotations. I was also happy with our bench. Our bench has really stepped up.”
First Half
The first points of this game came courtesy of a three-point shot from UT-Arlington freshman forward Kevin Hervey placing his team ahead, 3-0. A layup from T.J. Shipes accounted for the Panthers’ first pair of points before Georgia State’s defense gave up another three-pointer as freshman guard Kaelon Wilson extended the early Mavericks’ edge to 6-2.
The Panthers responded with a 13-0 run to go ahead 15-6. This included seven points from Ryan Harrow, four from R.J. Hunter, and two from Curtis Washington.
UT-Arlington would receive a three-point shot from senior guard Jamel Outler, as well as a layup from freshman guard Erick Neal, cutting their early deficit to four at 15-11 before Harrow increased his point total to nine placing Georgia State ahead 17-11.
Outler then fouled Kevin Ware placing him at the line as he made one of two free throws. With the lead becoming 18-11 for the Panthers, senior UT-Arlington guard Lonnie McClanahan then made a layup, which was followed by a three from Neal bringing the Mavericks within two at 18-16.
After another layup by Harrow, McClanahan made one of two free throws to once again bring the Mavericks within two at 20-18.
Jordan Session then put in his first pair of points of the game increasing the Georgia State lead to 22-18. Hervey then drew a foul against Shipes, but made only one out of two free throws. Session’s third and fourth points extended the Panthers’ lead to five at 24-19.
With the score being 26-21 in Georgia State’s favor after a layup from Markus Crider, the Panthers’ extended their advantage to 29-21 with three more by Harrow.
Georgia State managed to maintain their eight-point lead at 31-23 before UT-Arlington engineered an 8-0 run to close the gap to one at 31-30. The scoring streak included four points by senior forward Greg Gainey and two each from Mavericks junior guard Johnny Hill and sophomore forward Jorge Bilbao.
Harrow would not allow UT-Arlington to take the lead as he would later score five consecutive points extending the Panthers’ lead to 36-30, but McClanahan converted on a layup with two seconds left in the half producing a halftime score of 36-32.
Second Half
Georgia State’s Crider and UT-Arlington senior forward Anthony Walker traded the first four points for their teams as the score became 40-36 with the Panthers in front. The lead for Georgia State became seven with a three-pointer from Harrow bringing the score to 43-36.
The Panthers would maintain their seven-point lead with leads of 45-38 and 47-40. A 6-0 run with all six points coming from Ware made the score 53-40.
The Mavericks would get a jumper for two points from Hervey to trim their deficit to 11 at 53-42, but another three from Harrow along with a free throw by Washington increased the Georgia State lead to 57-42.
A made three-point shot from Gainey was followed by another two-pointer by Washington bringing the score to 59-45.
With the Panthers ahead 61-47, a layup from Hill once again cut the UT-Arlington deficit to 11 at 61-49. Two more points each from Hunter, Shipes, and Ware would extend the Georgia State advantage to 67-49.
Mavericks sophomore forward Brandon Williams then contributed two made free throws after being fouled by Crider. The Panthers would then get a three-pointer from Ryann Green as well as a dunk from Harrow making the score 72-51, but Harrow was assessed a technical foul shortly afterwards.
The 21-point Georgia State lead was cut to 12 as UT-Arlington would see three-pointers from Neal and Gainey, a layup by Hervey, and made free throws by McClanahan and Hill. The Mavericks would go on a 9-2 run with the only pair of Panthers scores coming from a slam dunk by Crider as the score became 74-62.
Georgia State would close out the game with a 9-0 run with two more made free throws form Crider along with one each by Washington and Isaiah Dennis as well as a two-point jumper by Session and a three from Jalen Brown. The Panthers would go on to win by the final of 83-62.
The Panthers will take to the hardwood Saturday as they travel to Boone, N.C. to face Appalachian State at 3 p.m.
| Georgia State | UT-Arlington |
|---|---|
| Harrow: 27 points | Ware: 11 points |
| Canete:Gainey: 11 points | Sharratt:Hervey: nine points |
