Tallahassee, Fla.-Georgia State fell at Florida A&M, 60-58, Sunday afternoon at the Lawson Center in Tallahassee, Fla.
With the score tied at 58-all, FAMU's Rasheem Jenkins made one of two free throws to put the Rattlers (1-10) ahead, 59-58, with 19 seconds to play. Georgia State's Xavier Hansbro missed a short jumper with the clock running down, and Joe Dukes rebounded but had his attempt at a putback blocked with 0.8 seconds left.
Hansbro and Trae Goldston led Georgia State (5-5) with 14 points each.
"A very disappointing game," said Georgia State head coach Rod Barnes. "I don't want to take anything away from Florida A&M but we weren't very good today.
"We knew they were a better a team than their record showed, and we didn't play with the kind of intensity that we need to win a game on the road. We let them get ahead and allowed them to gain confidence as the game went on."
Georgia State trailed the entire game until Jihad Ali's three-pointer put the Panthers ahead, 49-48, with eight minutes to go. But Florida A&M scored the next six points, moving in front, 54-49, on Brandon Bryant's tip-in with 5:43 to play. From there, GSU held the Rattlers without a field goal the rest of the way, but FAMU made 23 of 32 free throws in the game, including six in the final four minutes.
Dukes completed a three-point play, scoring off an inbounds play and then making the free throw to tie the game at 56-all with 3:34 left. After the Panthers forced a miss, Ousman Krubally sank a pair of free throws for a 58-56 lead with 2:58 on the clock.
Bryant's free throws with 1:53 left tied the game for FAMU. The Panthers missed a pair of shots that would have given them the lead before Jenkins was fouled on a drive to the basket. He missed the first free throw but made the second for what proved to be the winning point. He added another free throw with 0.8 seconds left for the final margin.
Larry Jackson led the Rattlers with 16 points and eight rebounds, and Bryant added 13 points.
The Panthers remain in Tallahassee to play Florida State Tuesday at 7 p.m. in regionally televised game on Fox Sports Florida.
"I know we're a good basketball team, but today we didn't show it," said Barnes. "Now we've got to get back to work and get ready to play a really talented Florida State team."
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