The Pirates moved to 5-0 on the season, while Georgia State evened its record at 3-3.

Manny Atkins led Georgia State with 15 points and eight rebounds, and Devonta White added 13 points.

Both teams shot below 40 percent from the field, but ECU outrebounded the Panthers, 47-26. The Pirates grabbed 18 offensive rebounds.

“I tip my cap to Coach Lebo and East Carolina,” commented head coach Ron Hunter after the game. “My team is young and tonight we got beat by a well-coached, experienced team. Experience is the one thing you can not recruit or coach and tonight, our inexperience showed.

“East Carolina used their experience to hit the boards hard tonight and they used it to their advantage. They outrebounded us in a big way and never allowed us to get into a rhythm.”

East Carolina led from the opening tip, scoring the first eight points en route to a 31-20 halftime advantage. The closest the Panthers could come in the second half was seven points, pulling within 38-31 on a bucket by Atkins with 13 minutes to play.

Georgia State was within eight at 46-38 with eight minutes left, before Robert Sampson nailed a three-pointer to begin an 8-1 run that pushed the Pirates lead to 54-39.

Sampson, an Atlanta native and the son of former NBA player Ralph Sampson, contributed a double-double for ECU with 12 points and 16 rebounds.

True freshman T.J Shipes saw his first significant action for the Panthers and contributed six points in 16 minutes.

Shamarr Bowden added 10 points off the bench for the Pirates.

Georgia State returns to action Friday when the Panthers host Louisiana Tech at 7 p.m. at the GSU Sports Arena. Tickets are available by calling 866-GA-STATE or on-line at GeorgiaStateSports.com.

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