What You Need to Know:
* Georgia State won the Mayan Division of the Cancun Challenge on Wednesday with an 82-65 victory over Eastern Kentucky.
* Freshman D'Marcus Simonds was named tournament MVP, while Justin Seymour also earned all-tournament honors.
* Junior Isaiah Williams led the Panthers with 18 points as Georgia State went 9-of-18 from 3-point range.
CANCUN, Mexico-Georgia State won the Mayan Division of the Cancun Challenge on Wednesday at the Hard Rock Riviera Maya Hotel with an impressive 82-65 win over Eastern Kentucky. Senior Justin Seymour, who was named to the all-tournament team, finished with 15 points, knocking down 5-of-6 from 3-point range.
A day after scoring 26 points, freshman D'Marcus Simonds earned all-tournament MVP honors adding eight points and three steals in just 23 minutes for Georgia State which improved to 3-2.
Junior Isaiah Williams led the Panthers on Wednesday with 18 points on 6-of-8 shooting, knocking down a pair from 3-point range as Georgia State went 9-of-18 from beyond the arc.
Despite 21 points from Nick Mayo and 10 points and eight rebounds from Zach Charles, Eastern Kentucky fell to 2-4.
“I thought those games that we played last week really prepared us to come down here and play well,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “Defensively we have been outstanding all year. We have been holding teams to under 40 percent shooting and our guys are really getting after it. It is a fun team to coach and it will be great to bring this trophy back to Atlanta.”
After Georgia State took an early 6-4 lead, Eastern Kentucky responded with a 12-0 run to take a 16-6 with 14:39 to play. It marked the second-straight game the Panthers got down by 10 points early, before the defense stepped up.
Seymour helped spark a 14-0 Georgia State run as the Panthers took a 20-16 lead with just over 10 minutes to play. The Panthers pushed the run to 20-3 and led 26-19 with 7:32 and never looked back, leading for nearly 33 minutes of the game.
Seymour finished the first half with 12 points, going 4-of-4 from 3-point range as the Panthers led 41-33 at the half. Dating back to his days at Murray State, Seymour has knocked down 12-of-16 3-pointers against Eastern Kentucky in his last three match-ups with the Colonels.
Georgia State's bench outscored the Colonels 24-0 in the first 20 minutes, while holding Eastern Kentucky to just 3-of-16 from 3-point range.
Georgia State continued to apply pressure in the second half and pushed the lead to as many as 21 with just over a minute to play. The Panthers forced 18 turnovers which led to 18 points, swiping 13 steals and shooting 52.6 percent from the floor.
Senior Willie Clayton just missed another double-double with nine points and 15 rebounds, including seven on the offensive glass.
Sophomore Malik Benlevi chipped in 11 points, while senior Isaiah Dennis added eight.
Asante Gist added 16 points and five assists for Eastern Kentucky which was held to just 33.3 percent shooting and 6-of-31 from 3-point range.
Hunter picked up his 106th career win at Georgia State and is now just one shy of tying Bob Reinhart's school record of 107.
The sixth-year head coach will look to tie the record when Georgia State hosts Wright State on Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. in the GSU Sports Arena. The game will serve as the annual Samaritan's Feet game in which Hunter goes barefoot to raise awareness for the organization.
