ATLANTA -- Manny Atkins scored a season-high 23 points and tied his career best with 12 rebounds and Ryan Harrow added 22 points as Georgia State downed in-state rival Georgia Southern 73-61 Friday at the GSU Sports Arena.
Senior Devonta White added a career-high 10 assists and seven points, while sophomore R.J. Hunter chipped in 16 as the Panthers beat their in-state foes for the fifth time in seven tries.
“I thought it was a really good game and I thought our guys played well,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “Although Manny Atkins played nearly a perfect game, I thought Ryan Green and Markus Crider really provided us the spark on defense that we needed.”
Crider came off the bench to play 25 minutes and despite just four points, one was a monster-dunk that got the nearly 1,900 in the building on their feet. The sophomore added two steals and two blocked shots on the defensive end.
Green saw his most significant minutes of the year, coming off the bench to play 12 and pull down three rebounds.
“We had guys bring some real defensive toughness and that was key tonight. Our offense played well, but our defense won the game,” Hunter said.
The game featured 14 lead changes over the first 27 minutes, but Harrow's 3-pointer with 12:55 to play gave Georgia State (5-6) the lead for good at 47-45. That bucket started a 15-4 run that pushed the Panthers' advantage to 59-49 with seven minutes left.
Georgia Southern (6-7) pulled within six on a Jelani Hewitt free throw that made the score 62-56 with 4:23 on the clock, but Crider answered with a layup for Georgia State. Atkins followed with a 3-point play to put the Panthers ahead 67-56 with three minutes to go.
Atkins and Harrow each went 8-for-13 from the field. Atkins recorded his first double-double of the year after recording three during his junior season.
The Panthers shot-49 percent from the field and made 9-of-22 (41-percent) from 3-point range.
Brian Holmes scored a career-high 19 points for Georgia Southern, including four of the Eagles' 11 3-pointers.
Georgia Southern guard Tre Bussey, the cousin of GSU guard Ryan Harrow, finished with 13 points, while Jelani Hewitt added 15 points and nine rebounds.
Georgia State will return to the road on Sunday, traveling to San Antonio, Texas to face UTSA. Tip is set for 2 p.m. ET.
