Wilmington, N.C--Georgia State fell at UNC Wilmington, 77-72, Wednesday at Trask Coliseum, despite career-high scoring efforts for the Panthers' Trae Goldston and Michael Moynihan.
Seniors T.J. Carter and Todd Hendley combined for 38 points for UNC Wilmington (18-10, 11-5 CAA)
After trailing by as many as 17 midway through the second half, State (7-19, 4-12) fought back to within four points with 1:20 left. Moynihan's layup pulled State to within 71-67, and the Panthers appeared to be about to get a defensive stop when Chad Tomko fed Vladimir Kuljanin for a layup that just beat the shot clock.
Deven Dickerson scored for State with 24 seconds left, but Hendley made two free throws to seal the win.
“I thought we played well, especially offensively, but we didn't play well enough on the defensive end to win the game,” said Georgia State head coach Rod Barnes. “They've got a really balanced team with four senior starters, and every time we cut into their lead, one of their seniors stepped up and made a play.”
One game after hitting the winning three-pointer against Northeastern, Goldston hit six of 10 treys as he equaled his career scoring high. Moynihan made three threes to post a career-high for the second straight game, following his 15-point effort in the win over Northeastern.
Dickerson also had his best game of the season with 10 points and nine rebounds. The Panthers hit a season high 12 three-pointers, connecting on 50 percent from three-point range. Kevin Lott added eight points for State.
State led for much of the first half and trailed by just four, 41-37, at the intermission, but the Seahawks opened the second half with a 9-2 run to build an 11-point advantage. Carter scored 12 straight points, capped by a three-pointer that put UNCW ahead 57-43 with 13 minutes to play.
The Seahawks led 64-47 with under 10 minutes to go when State scored seven straight to get the deficit back to 10. The Panthers still trailed by 12 after Hendley's bucket with 5:37 left when Lott and Goldston hit back-to-back treys and D.J. Jones added free throw to get State within five, 68-63, with four minutes left. Hendley answered with another three, but Dickerson and Moynihan scored to make the score 71-67 at the 1:20 mark.
In addition to his offensive production, Carter guarded State's leading scorer, Leonard Mendez, much of the night and held him to a season-low three points.
“Carter did a very good job. He's a senior and all-conference player who took it as a challenge to guard one of the leading scorers in the league,” said Barnes. “That's going to happen [to Mendez] some nights. Fortunately, our other shooters stepped up, like they should. When you go on the road, you've got to make shots, which we did. We just didn't play well enough defensively.”
The Panthers return to action Saturday at Jacksonville State at 8 p.m. ET in the ESPNU Bracketbusters.
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