ATLANTA-Georgia State fell to Western Michigan, 61-59, on Flenard Whitfield's basket with less than a second remaining on Saturday night at the GSU Sports Arena.
Brandon McGee's three-pointer tied the game at 59-all for Georgia State (3-4) with 12.5 seconds left. After a timeout, Western Michigan (4-4) inbounded the ball with seven seconds, and Whitfield hit a short jumper in the lane with just 0.6 seconds remaining.
The contest was the fourth straight for GSU to come down to the final seconds of regulation. One game earlier, the Panthers defeated James Madison on a Jihad Ali's buzzer beater, following consecutive overtime losses.
McGee led the Panthers with 16 points and eight rebounds, and Jihad Ali added 12 points. Whitfield paced the Broncos with 17 points and seven rebounds.
"We did a lot of good things but just didn't make enough plays down the stretch," said GSU head coach Rod Barnes. "We didn't finish strong. We had some great opportunities; we just didn't close the door."
Georgia State took a 54-44 lead on McGee's layup with 8:31 to play, but Western Michigan reeled off seven straight points, pulling within 54-51 on a jumper by Mike Douglas.
A pair of free throws by Demetrius Ward with 2:34 left moved the Broncos within one, and then Whitfield gave Western Michigan its first lead of the second half on a jumper with 1:46 left.
Matt Stainbrook extended the lead to three with a stick-back layup with 36 seconds to go before McGee's three from the corner off a feed from Ali tied the game at 59-all.
The Panthers built a 29-22 halftime lead, fueled by a 10-0 run midway through the period on which five different players scored. Meanwhile, the GSU defense held Western Michigan without a field goal for nearly nine minutes.
Georgia State shot 44 percent from the field and outrebounded the Broncos, 37-32. Western Michigan managed just 36 percent from the field, including 1-for-12 from three-point range, but hit 18 of 22 free throws.
Sophomore James Vincent added three emphatic dunks in the game, finishing 3-of-3 from the field for six points, five rebounds and four blocked shots.
Georgia State concludes its three-game homestand by hosting Florida A&M next Saturday, Dec. 18, at 6 p.m. at the GSU Sports Arena.
--GeorgiaStateSports.com--
