What You Need to Know:
* Georgia State opened play in Mexico Tuesday with a 74-53 win over NJIT in the Cancun Challenge.
* Freshman D'Marcus Simonds led the Panthers with 26 points on 11-of-15 shooting, while Willie Clayton and Jeremy Hollowell just missed double-doubles.
* Georgia State will play the winner of Eastern Kentucky and Idaho State in Wednesday's Maan Division Championship Game at 3 p.m.
CANCUN, Mexico-Georgia State closed the first half on an 18-0 run to propel the Panthers to a 74-53 win over NJIT on Tuesday afternoon in the first game of the Cancun Challenge at the Hard Rock Riviera Maya. The Panthers were led by freshman D'Marcus Simonds who scored a career-high 26 points.
Georgia State improved to 2-2 and will play the winner of Eastern Kentucky and Idaho State in Wednesday's Mayan Division Championship Game at 3 p.m. The game will air on YouTube Live. The game can also be heard on 1340 The Fan 3 with Dave Cohen being joined by Brandon Leak. Live statistics and live audio will be available at GeorgiaStateSports.com and on most mobile devices.
Simonds finished 11-of-15 from the floor, sparking the first half run after coming off the bench.
Isaiah Dennis added 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting, while also grabbing five rebounds. Senior Willie Clayton, playing in his 100th career game, just missed a double-double with eight points and nine rebounds. Senior Jeremy Hollowell also came up just shy, scoring nine points and grabbing seven boards.
NJIT (2-3) was led by Damon Lynn who scored 15 points, while Osa Izevbuwa scored 13.
“We got off to a little bit of a slow start, but I think that was more with the early start time,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “Once we settled down, we really got it going with a great run to end the half and then kept it going in the second half.
“D'Marcus is a really talented player. Like most freshmen, we knew it was going to take some time for him to figure it all out and adjust to the speed. He has started to figure all of that out and played really well today.”
NJIT got off to a quick start, leading 16-6 less than eight minutes into the game. The Highlanders knocked down six 3-pointers in the first half, but Simonds' sparked Georgia State midway through the first half.
Trailing 19-10, Georgia State used a 6-0 run in the middle of a stretch of making six-straight shots, led by Simonds who finished the opening half with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
Georgia State trailed 27-21 with 5:18 to play in the first half before using an 18-0 run to end the half and take a 39-27 lead into the locker room. The Panthers shot 60 percent from the floor in the opening half, while forcing the Highlanders into 12 turnovers.
The Panthers came out equally hot in the second half. Leading 44-34 just under five minutes into the half, Georgia State used an 8-0 run with a pair of Simonds' baskets to build a 52-34 lead with 11:05 remaining.
NJIT used a 6-0 run to cut Georgia State's lead to 54-43 with 8:01 to play, but the Panthers responded with a 6-0 as the Highlanders were never able to cut the lead to single digits.
After shooting 52.6 percent in the first half, Georgia State held NJIT to just 22.6 percent shooting in the second half and just 34.0 percent for the game.
Georgia State finished the day shooting 57.1 percent from the floor, dominating the paint 50-12, as well as on the bench which outscored the Highlanders 43-9.
Hunter picked up his 105th career win at Georgia State and is now just two shy of tying Bob Reinhart's school record of 107.
