Wilmington, N.C.-Georgia
State nearly overcame a 14-point second half deficit before falling to UNCW
76-72 on Wednesday night at Trask Coliseum.
Freshman R.J. Hunter scored 26 points, his third straight game scoring
25 or more points.
Georgia State
(12-13, 7-5 CAA) had its two-game winning streak snapped, while UNCW (9-14, 4-7
CAA) snapped its three game losing streak with the victory.
The Seahawks
shot 52.9 percent from the floor and 9-of-18 from three-point range for the
game, after shooting 61.5 percent in the first half.
“I thought UNCW
played well tonight and made some big shots,” commented head coach Ron Hunter. “We
have been playing pretty well defensively lately, but tonight, we did not make
the stops that we needed to get.
“When you
opponent hits 50 percent of their three's, you are not going to win too many
games. I thought we were able to limit Keith Rendleman, but then we got hurt
too much on the outside.”
After earning CAA Player and
Rookie of the Week honors on Monday, Hunter finished the first half with 20
points, going 7-of-11 from the floor and hitting all five three-point attempts.
He finished the game going 9-of-16 from the floor and 6-of-7 from three-point
range.
Rendleman scored 15 points
and pulled down 10 rebounds for his 13th double-double of the season. He finished
5-of-8 from the floor and 5-of-7 from the free throw line.
Junior Devonta
White led the Panthers second half charge, scoring 16 of his 19 points after
halftime. Redshirt-junior Manny Atkins added 12 points for GSU, while senior
James Vincent chipped in with eight points and seven rebounds.
Vincent played in his 111th career game
to move into a tie for ninth place on GSU's all-time list with Herman Favors.
Trailing by 10, 68-58, with
6:19 to play, Georgia State responded with an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to
two, 68-66, with 3:48 to play.
After a pair of Seahawk
baskets pushed the lead by to six with 2:22 to play, Hunter responded with a
put-back off a White miss to cut the lead to four with 1:26 remaining. After a
defensive stop, Atkins hit a pair of free throws, cutting the lead to 72-70
with 34 seconds remaining.
Craig Ponder, who finished
with a team-high 17 points, made two free throws with 20.4 seconds remaining, giving
UNCW a 74-70 lead.
Georgia State had one last
chance as a foul by Chris Dixon sent White to the free throw line with 16.9
seconds remaining. After hitting both to cut it to 74-72, White fouled Cedrick
Williams who made both shots which would seal the victory.
Atkins streak of 19 straight
made free throws came to an end in the first half. The streak was just four shy
of the school-record of 23 held by Nate Williams.
Hunter scored 13 straight
GSU points at one point in the first half, the third straight game that he had
a double-digit streak for the Panthers.
Williams finished with 14
points and six rebounds off the bench for UNCW, while Freddie Jackson finished
with 10 points.
Georgia State shot 47.3
percent for the game and hit 9-of-17 three-pointers, but managed to make just
11-of-17 from the free throw line.
Georgia State will
return home to face Towson on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Sports Arena. It will be
Alumni Day as all former Georgia State players are encouraged to come back to
campus as the Panthers take on the Tigers.
Alums
interested in taking part can contact Nate Summers in the basketball office.
Tickets for the game can be purchased by calling 1-866-GA-STATE or going online
to GeorgiaStateSports.com.
www.GeorgiaStateSports.com
