CLEMSON, S.C. (Dec. 31) – In a New Year's eve matinee, Georgia State dropped a hard-fought 67-57 decision to Clemson at Littlejohn Coliseum.

Georgia State led all of the first half before host Clemson closed with an 11-0 run to take a 27-19 lead into the half. But, State continued to battle the No. 21 ranked Tigers (14-0) and had closed back to 51-46 with just 7:23 to go and were down just 59-52 with 2:27 to go. State kept it at seven two more times, the last at 64-57 with 45 seconds to go, but Clemson made some free throws to close out the game.

“We played with energy, enthusiasm and effort today,” said head coach Michael Perry. “We had chances to win, but didn't make the plays when we needed to. In that run at the end of the first half, we had good, point-blank range shots, but they didn't fall. We're still getting better and know we gained something out of today's effort.”

Georgia State (4-7) was led by sophomore forward Rashad Chase with 16 points and nine rebounds, while Leonard Mendez added 12 points. Junior center Deven Dickerson made his first start of the season and responded with eight points and six rebounds in 17 minutes. “Rashad played with composure today and he's becoming a leader.”

Clemson got 15 points and 12 rebounds from center Trevor Booker, coupled with 13 points from K.C. Rivers and 11 points from Cliff Hammonds.

The teams were even in rebounds with 35 each, while State committed 20 turnovers to 16 for the defensive-minded Tigers.

In the first half, Georgia State dictated the game with its defense. The Panthers started with a 6-2 lead, holding Clemson to just one basket in the first five minutes. State's defense continued to spark the effort as the visiting Panthers built a 12-6 lead at 10:48. Georgia State continued to hold Clemson in check, leading 15-12 at 8:54, 17-14 at 8:10 and 19-16 at 6:22. That's when State started to self-destruct with unforced turnovers in its half court offense and missed its nine shots as it never scored the rest of the half, while Clemson scored 11 unanswered points to take a 27-19 lead into the halftime break. State hit just 30.8 percent in the first half (8-of-26) while Clemson shot 10-of-29 for 34.5 percent.