Richmond, Va.-Josh Micheaux scored 14 points and Eric Buckner added 12 points and eight rebounds to lead ninth-seeded Georgia State to a 58-52 victory over eighth-seeded UNC Wilmington in the first round of the Colonial Athletic Association Championship Friday at the Richmond Coliseum.
Georgia State (12-18), under interim head coach Paul Graham, advances to face top-seeded and 25th-ranked George Mason in Saturday's quarterfinals at 12 noon.
"It's about these guys," said Graham. "They worked hard all week and stayed focus, and our team played really well. Basketball is a team game, and we got contributions from everyone."
Jihad Ali pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds for the Panthers, along with nine points, two steals and a blocked shot, while Marques Johnson equaled his career best with seven assists to go with four points, three rebounds, two blocks and a steal. Micheaux added five rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals.
Trailing 16-8 midway through the first half, the Panthers scored 14 straight points to take the lead and never trailed again. After making just three of their first 15 shots, GSU hit 20 of 33 attempts the rest of the way to shoot 48 percent for the game, including 56 percent in the second half. Moving the ball and spreading the scoring, the Panthers were credited with 18 assists on 23 baskets.
"When you get that ball close to the rim, your shooting percentage goes up," said Graham. "We told our kids that we've got to get the ball to Buck (Buckner) because they can't cover him inside."
Along with the 6-10 Buckner, 6-11 James Vincent also contributed key baskets in the paint with six points and three rebounds.
On the defensive end, the Panthers held UNC Wilmington (13-18) to just 29.5 percent from the field, including 6-for-29 from three-point range. All-CAA guard Chad Tomko finished with a game-high 19 points but managed just 7-for-21 shooting.
"James Fields and Josh Micheaux did a great job defensively," said Graham. "Tomko still got his 19 points, but didn't get a lot of open looks and he wasn't able to get his teammates involved."
Georgia State outrebounded the Seahawks, 42-38, and came up with eight blocked shots from five different players, including two each by Micheaux, Buckner and Johnson.
GSU led 46-44 with eight minutes to go when freshman Devonta White nailed a jumper for the Panthers and Buckner followed with a layup off a feed from Micheaux to put GSU ahead 50-44 with 6:29 to play. Keith Rendlemen scored for UNCW, but Vincent answered with a bucket down low for GSU. After the Seahawks' Trevor Deloach made one of two free throws, James Fields hit a pair for the Panthers, pushing their lead to 54-47 with just 2:21 left.
The Seahawks had one last gasp after Tomko hit a long three-pointer to pull the UNCW within 56-52 with 23 seconds to play, but Buckner sank two free throws to seal the win.
Saturday's game against George Mason will be televised on CSS on a tape delay basis at 5 p.m. Live coverage is available on WRAS-FM 88.5, as well as via live streaming on CAASports.com.
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