The Georgia State Panthers ended their two-game road trip with a 58-49 statement win against the top seeded team in Sun Belt conference the Appalachian State Mountaineers.
The Panthers headed into Saturday’s game on a two-game win streak, with a 10-10 record
Forward Jalen Thomas finished with a team-high 16 points for the Panthers, while grabbing five rebounds, and blocking two shots along the way.
Kane Williams (12) and Justin Roberts (11) scored a combined 23 points for the Panthers.
In his second straight game off the bench, Corey Allen had 10 points, five rebounds and four assists, and shot 2-6 from the three-point line.
This was an old school, grind it out type of basketball game in the Sun Belt.
The Panthers got out to a fast start early in the game, leading 13-8 at one point, eventually ending the first half up 28-16 against the Mountaineers.
In the second half the Panthers saw their lead get cut short early, as the Mountaineers scored a quick nine points to bring the lead to 25-34.
The Mountaineers kept pushing the tempo against the Panthers as they got within four points, making the score 49-45 with under two minutes left.
Even with the Mountaineers late push the Panthers would maintain their lead and win the game, and now brings their conference record to 5-5, and record to 11-10.
This was an important win for the Panthers, as they have now won their fifth game out of six and currently sit at sixth in the Sun Belt standings.
As well as winning five out of their last six, this now marks their fourth straight road win, and head coach Rob Lanier points out the importance of winning on the road against a tough team such as Appalachian State.
“That’s four straight road wins and that’s important for us, particularly against this team who is in first place and has really good offensive players,” said Lanier. “So, if you defend a team that is as well coached and talented as they are, it means that the defense that we try to get these guys to play, that were actually doing something and getting better and it’s not fool’s gold, cause if you can guard these guys, you’re really doing something, cause that’s a really good team”
After a slow start to the season the Panthers have gained lots of momentum as of late, which is important as the Sun Belt conference tournament is only weeks away.
From the looks of it the team has essentially turned their season around and looks like the team everyone knows they can be.
The Panthers next game will be on February 17th at home against in-state rival Georgia Southern. All time, the Panthers are 79-75 against the Eagles, and this game will surely be an exhilarating contest from start to finish.
