ATLANTA--Georgia State rallied from a 14-point deficit in the second half before falling to Delaware, 64-62, Saturday at the GSU Sports Arena on Jawan Carter's three-pointer at the buzzer, which rolled around the rim before falling through the hoop.
Eric Buckner led Georgia State (8-10, 3-5 CAA) with 18 points, six rebounds and three blocks. Jihad Ali added a season-high 16 points, along with seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.
"We put them in a position to shoot a contested three-pointer and unfortunately, they made a great shot," commented head coach Rod Barnes following the tough loss.
"We really played the game the way it was supposed to be played down the stretch and made some key free throws, but unfortunately, it was a tough shot at the end that cost us."
Carter scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half, and Devon Saddler led the Blue Hens (10-8, 5-3 CAA) with 17 points and five assists.
Brandon McGee's jumper with the shot clock running down put the Panthers ahead, 62-60, with 55 seconds left. Alphonso Dawson made one of two free throws with 42 seconds to go to pull Delaware within one. Georgia State ran down most of the shot clock before losing the ball out of bounds, and the Blue Hens inbounded with 12.6 seconds remaining.
Carter's shot from the top of the key was contested but it found the rim and appeared as if was going to bounce out before falling through for the win.
Georgia State trailed by 10 at the half, 35-25, and then fell behind by as many as 14 early in the second half before beginning its comeback, using a 19-4 run to take a 47-46 lead with 10:51 to play. Five different players scored on the spurt, including treys by Ali, Javonte Maynor, and James Fields capped it with a driving layup.
"We really started to defend better," said Barnes on his team trailing by 14. "I thought we started to limit them to one shot in the second half and because of that, we had a chance to get some baskets."
Neither team led by more than four points the rest of the way as the final 10 minutes included six lead changes and four ties.
State finished 19 of 26 (73.1 percent) from the free throw line, but shot just 3-of-10 from behind the arc.
Redshirt-junior Brandon McGee finished with 11 points and eight rebounds, knocking down 7-of-10 from the free throw line.
The Panthers will have only 48 hours to bounce back, as State will travel to Philadelphia, Penn. to face Drexel on Monday night at 7 p.m.
State will return home on Wednesday to face Old Dominion at 7 p.m. Tickets for that game, as well as the Panthers remaining home games can be bought by calling 1-866-GA-STATE or by going online to GeorgiaStateSports.com.
--GeorgiaStateSports.com--
