The Panther’s 21-year stretch without a win in Statesboro, Ga. moves to 22. The comeback attempt inside hostile Hanner Fieldhouse was to no avail, and Georgia State (19-8, 10-4) lost to Georgia Southern (17-10, 8-6) 85-80.
3,897 Hanner Hooligans in attedance helped Georgia Southern defeat their in-state rivals. An hour before the tipoff when Georgia State first stepped on the floor, the students at “That School Down South” made it known they would be there for the game’s entirety. Georgia Southern was locked in as well— they led for the game’s entirety.
However, Jeff Thomas was on the money— his 13 points on 4-4 free throw attempts and 3-4 from three-point land were the only lifeline on offense in the first half. He finished with 17 points and five rebounds. Southern made State’s comeback effort an uphill battle and stretched their biggest lead to 15 with 4:38 remaining before halftime.
An avalanche of boos and three-pointers welcomed the Panthers. Georgia Southern nailed 10 threes and doubled Georgia State’s five long-distance hits on 19 attempts.
Additionally, Georgia Southern took advantage of bad fouls to nail 25 of 37 free-throw attempts. D’Marcus Simonds (21 points, 9 rebounds and 8 turnovers) received fine treatment from the audio personnel at Hanner when he fouled out to he tune of Ray Charles’ “Hit the Road Jack”
Jordan Session fouled in 25 minutes of action and finished with just six rebounds. Although his matchup down low, Montae Glenn snagged nine rebounds, Georgia State won the rebounding battle 40-33.
The crowd may not have flustered the Panthers, but State looked like deer in headlights for much of the game. After every single three-pointer, the crowd was deafening and the Eagles fed off of it.
Georgia State chipped away at the lead during the final stretch and beat Georgia Southern on in-bounds passes to make several layups. But, Southern was more than solid at the free throw line and went 13-17 during the final four minutes.
Malik Benlevi (14 points, 12 rebounds) and Devin Mitchell (12 points) round out the four double-digit scorers for Georgia State. Southern’s Tookie Brown led the game with 23 points.
Not only was the chance for a season sweep of the rivals spoiled, but more importantly, Georgia State is on a two-game losing streak. They face Texas State on Thursday, Feb. 22 at 8 p.m.
