ATLANTA?Brian Henderson scored 19 points and three other players reached double figures to lead Old Dominion to a 72-64 victory over Georgia State in the Colonial Athletic Association opener for both teams Saturday at the Georgia State Sports Arena.

Leonard Mendez scored 16 points and Justin Billingslea added 13 to lead the Panthers (2-4, 0-1 CAA), who built an eight-point lead in the first half, then fell behind by as many as 15in the second half before fighting back to within five in the final minute.

 “I thought we gave good effort tonight, despite the fact that we lost to a senior-laden Old Dominion team,” said Georgia State head coach Rod Barnes. “If I can point to a positive from this loss, it would be the simple fact that we are gaining confidence, which will pay major dividends for us down the stretch.
“We came out making baskets and executing well on both sides of the ball. Then we had a let down late in the first half, where they really hurt us with offensive rebounds and second chance opportunities.”

Georgia State shot 52 percent in the first half, including four three-pointers, as the Panthers built a 28-20 lead on Trae Goldston's three-point basket with six minutes left in the half. But ODU outscored the State 23-4 over the rest of the half to take a 43-32 advantage into the locker room.

The Monarchs (4-4, 1-0 CAA) grew their lead to 15 points in the second half and still led 65-51 with 6:41 to play when Georgia State scored 10 straight points to pull within 65-60 on Billinglea's basket at the 3:13 mark. Billingslea had four points on the run, Kevin Lott hit a three-pointer and Deven Dickerson added a basket, but the Panthers could get no closer as ODU made free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

“I really thought Georgia State played with a lot of emotion and shot lights out early,” said ODU head coach Blaine Taylor, whose squad was coming off consecutive losses to top-ranked North Carolina, No. 6 Louisville and No. 5 Georgetown. “ I'm not sure if we hadn't been through what we have been through recently with our schedule that we would be able to measure up.

“Any time you go on the road and win, you feel like you kind of stole one, and I think a lot of people are going to have a hard time coming to Georgia State and winning.”

Georgia State outrebounded ODU, 36-25, but the Monarchs nailed eight three-pointers and hit 16-of-22 from the free throw line.

Another bright spot for Georgia State was the play of Deven Dickerson, who saw his first significant action as he continues his recovery from an offseason knee injury. The 6-9 senior contributed eight points, five rebounds and a block in 16 minutes of action. Rashad Chase had his fifth double-figure rebounding effort in six game with 10 boards, along with seven points.

Henderson was one of four double-figure scorers for Old Dominion, which got 13 points from Gerald Lee, 12 points from Brandon Johnson and 10 from Jonathan Adams.

Georgia State returns to action Wednesday when the Panthers host Georgia Tech at 9 p.m. at the Sports Arena.

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