Elon, N.C.? Montell Watson scored 15 points and Elon used hot shooting to defeat Georgia State, 71-49, Saturday at Alumni Gym.
Rashad Chase had his second straight double-double for the Panthers (0-2) with 10 points and 10 rebounds, but leading scorer Leonard Mendez managed just six points on 2-for-10 shooting after the Georgia State standout had poured in 24 against UAB.
The Phoenix never trailed and shot 58 percent for the game to just 38 percent for Georgia State, which was also hurt by 22 turnovers.
Georgia State trailed just 38-31 early in the second half but the Panthers were held scoreless for more than eight minutes, going without a point from the 16:44 mark until Chase's field goal ended the drought at 8:38. During that stretch, Elon extended its lead to 54-31.
“Give Elon a lot of credit because they did a good job,” said Georgia State head coach Rod Barnes. “It's unfortunate that we didn't show up and give them a game, and I take responsibility for that. It's unacceptable. We weren't aggressive all night, and that's going to catch up to you. They jumped on us early, like a home team should, and they finished us off.
“With such an inexperienced team, I was a little worried about how they would respond to going on the road for the first time, but that shouldn't be an excuse. We've got to get our players to understand what it takes to go on the road and get a win.”
Elon scored the first 11 points of the game and built a 25-11 advantage with eight minutes to play in the first half. The Panthers managed to pull within 28-22 on Trae Goldston's three-pointer with 2:53 left in the half but Elon got a pair of free throws from Watson to take a 34-24 lead into the intermission.
Goldston added nine points for Panthers, while Norman Mitchell came off the bench to score seven.
Watson was one of three double-figure scorers for the Phoenix, who also got 14 points from Ola Atoyebia nd 12 points from Monty Sanders.
Georgia State travels to Florida State Tuesday for a 7 p.m. game at the Donald L. Tucker Center.
“We've got a quick turnaround now, but we've got to go home and go to work.”
