Hampton, Va.-Despite a double-double from junior Eric Buckner, the Georgia State men's basketball team dropped its second straight overtime contest, falling to Hampton, 60-56 on Tuesday night. Buckner led the Panthers with 20 points on 10-16 shooting, while pulling down 10 rebounds.
The Panthers (2-3) held Hampton (6-1) to just 33.3 percent shooting from the field and 23.5 percent from three-point range, but the Pirates made 26-of-39 from the free throw line. State was just 9-of-20 from the charity stripe.
"We just made a few too many mistakes tonight," commented head coach Rod Barnes. "I take full responsibility for that and I am going to work to get us to take better care of the ball down the stretch."
After exchanging three-pointers to open overtime, back-to-back free throws by Darrion Pellum and a jumper by Danny Agbelese gave the Pirates a four-point lead, which they never relinquished.
"You have to give Hampton some credit as they have a good team, but it is a game that we very well could have won."
Pellum, coming off a career-high 33 points on Sunday against George Washington, led the Pirates with 21 points, including a stretch of 13-of-14 Hampton points in the second half. His three-pointer with 8:25 remaining gave the Pirates their first lead of the second half.
With the score tied at 46, Brandon Tunnell knocked down a jumper and Danny Agbelese followed with a free-throw to give the Pirates a 49-46 lead with 1:01 remaining.
Redshirt-junior Jihad Ali made one-of-two from the free throw line to cut the deficit to two with 42 seconds remaining, before another Buckner dunk tied the game at 49 with 19 second left.
Hampton missed a pair of jumpers with less than eight seconds remaining to send the game to overtime.
The Panthers led most of the game, but free throws, especially down the stretch, proved costly.
In the first half, with Hampton leading 9-4, the Panthers held the Pirates without a field goal for 11:01 . and went on a 15-8 run, holding Hampton to just eight made free throws before Mike Tuitt hit a jumper with 3:26 remaining.
Hampton did not make another field goal until the 15:55 mark of the second half, a stretch of over 18 minutes.
When Buckner opened the second half with an emphatic dunk, it gave the Panthers a 27-22 lead. The Panthers extended its lead to 35-25 on another Buckner dunk with 15:48 left in the game.
Freshman Devonta White scored a career-high 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including a pair of three's, while pulling down six rebounds and dishing out five assists.
Ali finished the game with 11 points and six rebounds.
Charles Funches scored five points and pulled down 11 rebounds to help the Pirate cause.
The Panthers outrebounded Hampton 41-35, including a 23-14 margin in the first half.
The loss marked the ninth straight overtime defeat for the Panthers dating back 2007.
Georgia State will return to home to open CAA play on Saturday as James Madison makes the trek south to the Sports Arena. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. and can be heard live on both WRAS-FM 88.5 and WGTJ-AM 1330 in Gainesville.
Fans who bring a new, unwrapped toy to the game will receive a ticket for just $6. Toy collection boxes will be set up in front of the box office at the Sports Arena. One discounted ticket per person will be allowed.
Through this community outreach tradition over the past seven years and the generosity of Georgia State University students, faculty, and staff, over 7,000 toys have been provided to children of families in need.
Fans will questions can contact the ticket office at 1-866-GA-STATE.
--GeorgiaStateSports.com--
