ATLANTA-Trae Goldston scored 22 points, and Marques Johnson hit the go-ahead basket with 57 seconds left as Georgia State defeated Eastern Michigan, 66-65, Saturday at the GSU Sports Arena.
With the score tied at 62-all, Johnson, the junior point guard, scored his only points of the game on a foul-line jumper to put the Panthers (6-6) ahead. After Brandon Bowdry made one of two free throws for Eastern Michigan (6-4) with 35 seconds to play, Joe Dukes sank pair of free throws with 29 seconds on the clock.
The Eagles missed three shots in the final 11 seconds, including two three-point attempts, before Bowdry's putback with 0.4 seconds left accounted for the 66-65 final score.
"I'm proud of our kids for hanging in there," said GSU head coach Rod Barnes. "We have played better games, but we'll definitely take the win.
"Trae not only shot the ball well, but he made big shots when we really needed them. We needed all 22 of his points. And Marques stepped up and made a huge shot at the end."
Goldston, the senior from Decatur, went 5-for-8 from three-point range. He scored 15 of his points in the second half on four treys and an old-fashioned three-point play.
After leading 30-26 at the half, the Panthers quickly fell behind and trailed 56-49 with eight minutes to play. Goldston hit a three-pointer, and then Trey Hampton made two free throws to pull GSU within two. After two foul shots by Bowdry, Goldston nailed another trey, and Georgia State trailed 58-57 with 5:41 left.
Hampton blocked an EMU shot, got the rebound, and then hit a short jumper in the lane to put the Panthers' ahead, 59-58 with 3:14 to play, GSU's first lead since very early in the second half.
EMU regained the lead on free throws by Carlos Medlock before Goldston hit from long range again, giving GSU a 62-60 lead. The Eagles again answered with free throws, tying the score at 62-all with 2:24 to play.
Hampton missed for the Panthers, but James Fields drew a charge on Eastern Michigan's next position, and that's when Johnson stepped up with his basket.
The second half included 10 lead changes and seven ties.
Dukes scored 14 points for the Panthers, and Hampton added 11 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots. Ousman Krubally contributed seven points and five rebounds while taking two charges. Johnson finished with five assists and just one turnover.
Bowdry led Eastern Michigan with 21 points and 14 rebounds, but committed seven turnovers. Medlock added 18 points. The Eagles hit 28-of-34 free throws.
Georgia State shot 44 percent from the field, including 6-for-16 beyond the arc, and committed just turnovers while holding the Eagles to 34 percent shooting, 3for-17 on threes. The Panthers have been a strong rebounding team all season but were outrebounded today, 40-23, by far their largest deficit of the season.
Georgia State hosts Georgia Southern Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the GSU Sports Arena.
--30--
