WILMINGTON, N.C. (Jan. 13) – Georgia State was down 12 points in the first half, and nine points with 13:30 left to play, but rallied for a 59-54 overtime win over CAA rival UNC Wilmington at Trask Coliseum.
Georgia State scored first in the OT on a Leonard Mendez jumper, but Todd Hendley hit a three to give UNCW the lead at 50-49. A free throw by Temi Soyebo gain the Seahawks its final lead at 51-50 with 2:26. Lance Perique made two free throws at 2:19 and a drive down the paint at 1:24, followed by a basket by Leonard Mendez at 34 seconds to claim the win for State.
Down 37-28 with 13:30 left to play, Georgia State road a stellar defense to go on a 14-0 run and build a 42-37 lead with 6:40 to play. State held UNCW without a field goal until 5:06, a stretch of more than eight minutes. Georgia State led the rest of the way and held a four-point lead with less than a minute to play. But, two missed one-on-one free throw tries kept the door open and Daniel Fountain drained a three for UNCW with 20 seconds left to tie the game. State's final possession in regulation resulted in a turnover.
Mendez led State (6-10, 2-4) with a career-best 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting and 4-4 free throws. Center Deven Dickerson came off the bench to score nine points and add six rebounds and three blocked shots.
UNC Wilmington (4-11, 1-5) got 16 points from Fountain with four treys, plus 12 points from Toddy Hendley and 11 points from Vladimir Kuljanin. But after scoring 29 points in the first half, the home team only scored 25 points in the final 25 minutes of regulation and overtime.
UNC Wilmington held a 39-37 rebound advantage after starting with a 14-4 advantage through 13 minutes. From then on, Georgia State held a 33-25 board advantage.
“We got a spirited effort today and recovered from that second half loss in our last road game,” Coach Perry said, “The kids really got after today in the second half. This is a tough, tough place to win and their crowd is so spirited. We changed up our defenses regularly to take them out of a rhythm and stepped up the rebounding intensity.”
“Mendez responded to the his first start at point and responded”, Perry continued. “And Deven came through despite his tremendous pain that he plays through.”
In the first half, Ryan McBride of State scored the first basket, but the host Seahawks got a pair of three-point baskets from Daniel Fountain to spark a 10-2 run in the first half and give UNCW a 12-2 advantage at 13:50. Fountain's eighth point of the first half gave Wilmington a 22-10 margin at 7:00 when the Panthers came alive. A trey by McBride and a basket in the lane from Rashad Chase made it 22-15 at 5:10. State's momentum was growing with a three-point basket from the corner by Ron Larris and a basket in the paint followed by two free throws from Leonard Mendez closed the gap to 27-22 with 1:18 left in the half. A travel call on Mendez gave UNCW one last first-half chance and Kuljanin provided a final basket in the final second to make it 29-22 at halftime.
Georgia State will be back in action Wednesday when they travel to Newark, Del., for the first time to face CAA opponent, the University of Delaware Blue Hens.
NOTEBOOK: State is now 2-0 in overtime this year. The Panthers defense held UNCW to 54 points for a season low, but a fifth time they have held an opponent to 60 points or less this year. State has taken care of the ball on offense the past four games with seasons bests of just 11, 12, 12, and 11 turnovers in those games. Georgia State started a different line-up for an 8th time this year and a 7th straight game with a different starting five. Leonard Mendez had career highs in points and rebounds (20 and 7) to top his three previous 19-point games and four previous six-rebound games.
