WILLIAMSBURG, VA. (Jan. 27) – Georgia State saw its two-game CAA road streak end with an 81-65 loss to a blazing hot William & Mary team Saturday night at Kaplan Hall.
Georgia State controlled the first 10 minutes of the game and was leading 18-14 at the midway point of the first half. But, William & Mary found the radar and zeroed in on the basket to make 8 of its final 11 shots of the first half. Then, the Tribe made a stunning 12 of its first 15 shots in the second half, including six three-pointers, to open a lead they would never lose. And, many of those baskets were by reserves with low shooting percentages.
Georgia State (7-13, 3-7) shot a solid 51 percent for the game (24-of-47), but the hosts finished with 61 percent on 28-of-46, with 12-of-25 three-point baskets on a team ranked No. 11 in the nation in three-point defense.
Junior center Deven Dickerson played a season-high 32 minutes and responded with 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting with seven rebounds. Sophomore guard Leonard Mendez had a 10th straight double-digit game with 15 points and team-leading scorer Lance Perique had his season-average 15 points.
William & Mary (11-9, 4-6), improved to 9-3 at home behind 19 pints from Adam Payton on six-of-seven shooting, while Laimis Kisielius added 17 points.
“We did not sustain our defense tonight," head coach Michael Perry said. “We started well but then didn't stay aggressive enough. It was promising to get the good effort from Deven Dickerson and we did shoot 51 percent on the road, but we have to do a tougher job on defense.”
In the first half, the visiting Panthers jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead at 16:34 with Dickerson hitting six of those points. Dickerson's eighth point put State up 12-9 at 14:12 to play. A three-point basket by Nathan Mann tied the game for the first time at 12 with 12:48 showing. Mendez hit back-to-back treys to propel State back to at 18-14 lead at the 10-minute mark. A Payton drive for the Tribe tied the game at 20 with 7:30 left. Lance Perique gave State its last lead of the first half at 22-20 with 6:40. William & Mary's first lead came on a trey by David Schneider at 6:22 for a 23-22 advantage. An alley-oop dunk from Mendez to Perique closed State back to 29-26 at 2:08, but another Schneider bomb helped the Tribe open at eight-point lead at 34-26. A Mendez jumper closed the first half scoring as the host Tribe went in leading, 34-28. Dickerson's 12 points and Mendez' 10 points paced State. Kisielius led William & Mary with 11 points. The hosts shot 59 percent in the first half on 13-of-22 with 4-of-9 treys, while the visitors shot 50% on 13-of-26.
Georgia State will travel the few miles down I-64 to Norfolk for a Monday night CAA game at Old Dominion University (14-7).
