All good things must come to an end. That’s at least what Troy thought as they upset Georgia State 85-81 ending the Panthers’ winning streak at the Trojan Arena Saturday night.
The Panthers loss snapped what became the longest winning streak in the program’s history ending at 14-consecutive. The team’s last loss was Dec. 7 in an overtime loss to Southern Mississippi.
That game also marked the last time the Panthers had lost on the road. Since, the Panthers won seven-consecutive road games, tying a school record.
The Panthers had not played a game in eight days because of Winter Storm Pax that covered Atlanta with snow and ice last week forcing the Panthers to postpone Thursday’s game against Texas State to Monday.
The Panthers had to shift gears to prepare for a road game against a Troy team who longed for revenge.
The Panthers had a slow first half ridden with fouls as forward Curtis Washington committed three within the first 10 minutes of the game. Washington finished with four. Manny Atkins also had foul trouble fouling out of the game late in the second half.
Troy got out to a fast offensive start getting a 10-point lead midway through the half.
All of the Trojan’s starters had points on the board less than six minutes into the game giving the team momentum to let its balanced offensive attack control the game.
Manny Atkins and Ryan Harrow came alive late in the first half pushing the Panthers to a 14-5 run to put the the Panthers down by just one, but Antoine Myers made two-consecutive baskets for the Trojans followed by two made free-throws by Tevin Calhoun to put Troy up 39-32 at the half.
R.J. Hunter got the Panthers started quickly in the second half scoring 10 points and getting the Panthers down by just three points less than five minutes into the half.
Troy, then, went on a 13-3 run courtesy of Jeff Mullahey and Calhoun who both made a pair of 3-pointers to eventually get the Trojans up by 12.
Troy’s offense slowed down in the final minutes of the game, this time allowing the Panthers to tie the game at 75 on a layup by Marcus Crider with 2:37 left in the game.
Mullahey made a layup to take the lead back for the Trojans, and more fouls from Georgia State opened the gate for Troy to get enough points to pull off the upset.
Mullahey finished with a career-high 27 points shooting 8-of-12 and making four 3-pointers, also a career high. Mullahey grabbed seven rebounds.
R.J. Hunter scored 26 points in the game pushing his career point total over to 1,000 points.
Hunter is the second-fastest player in the program’s history to reach 1,000 career points doing it in 54 games. Phillip Luckydo holds the record reaching the milestone in 49 games for the Panthers in 1992.
Two other starters for the Panthers are closing in on the 1,000 point mark. Atkins scored 18 points against the Trojans putting him at 976 career points, and Harrow scored 15 putting him at 984 career points.
This was the second time this season Georgia State met with Troy. The teams played Jan. 2 to mark Georgia State’s first Sun Belt Conference game since 1981. The Panthers won that game 81-72.
The Panthers have a quick turnaround with their makeup game against Texas State Monday night at 7:30 p.m. at the GSU Sports Arena.
