What You Need to Know:
* Georgia State cruised to a 83-52 win over Georgia Southwestern on Saturday afternoon at the GSU Sports Arena.
* Head coach Ron Hunter picked up win No. 108 at Georgia State, becoming the school's all-time wins leader. He is one of just seven coaches in the country to be the all-time wins leader at multiple Division I schools.
* Senior Willie Clayton finished with his second double-double of the season, scoring 11 points and grabbing 15 rebounds.
ATLANTA-On a day when head coach Ron Hunter became Georgia State's all-time wins leader, senior Willie Clayton finished with a double-double to lead the Panthers to an 83-52 win over Georgia Southwestern in the GSU Sports Arena.
Hunter picked up his 108th win at the helm of the Panthers, moving ahead of Bob Reinhart who led Georgia State for nine years. Hunter, who is also the all-time wins leader at IUPUI, becomes one of just seven coaches in the country to be the all-time wins leader at multiple Division I schools. He joins a list that includes Ronnie Arrow, Jim Calhoun, Leonard Hamilton, Lou Henson, Gregg Marshall and Johnny Orr.
Clayton finished with 11 points on 5-of-9 field goals and 15 rebounds, one shy of a career-high, to pick up his second double-double of the season and 19th of his career.
Georgia State (5-3) improved to 40-4 at home since the start of the 2013-14 season. It also marked the team's fifth-straight home win dating back to last season.
Redshirt-sophomore Devin Mitchell came off the bench to score a career-high 13 points going 4-of-6 from 3-point range, while sophomore Malik Benlevi added 12 points and five rebounds.
Georgia Southwestern (1-4) was led by Brandon Price and Tyrone Wooten who each scored 14 points.
“As great as it feels to pick up win 108, I know it feels even better for all of my current and former players and staff,” Hunter said. “It means we are doing something right at Georgia State. We are continuing to build a culture of winning and we are not done yet.
“I think we started a little slow today, but a lot of that has to do with coming off of final exam week. I really like how guys like Devin and Malik stepped up today and Chris Clerkley played some really great minutes. When guys are given a chance to play, they need to take advantage of it and they did today.”
Capped by a pair of 3-pointers from junior Isaiah Williams and senior Justin Seymour, the Panthers quickly took an 8-0 lead with 18:10 to play in the first half.
After Georgia Southwestern cut the deficit to 10-7, the Panthers responded with a 9-0 run to take a 19-7 lead with 10:59 to play and never look back.
Georgia State went into the locker room leading 39-22, outrebounding the Canes 22-11 in the first 20 minutes.
Clayton finished the first half with six points and eight rebounds, while Seymour led the Panthers with eight. Jeremy Hollowell and Benlevi each scored seven in the first 20 minutes.
After the Canes opened the second half with a 3-pointer, Georgia State responded with a 10-0 run to take a 49-25 lead with 17:45 remaining.
The Panthers led by as many as 36 with 5:33 to play in the game. GSU outscored Georgia Southwestern 18-0 on second chance points, as the Panthers outrebounded the Canes 43-22, including a 14-4 advantage on the offensive glass.
Hollowell finished with nine points and seven rebounds, playing in his 100th career game. Austin Donaldson filled up the stat sheet with seven points, four steals and three assists.
Clerkley, a freshman from Perry, Ga., scored his first career points and finished with five in 12 minutes off the bench.
Georgia State will return to the court on Wednesday to face Alabama A&M in the GSU Sports Arena at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased by calling 404-413-4020. For the remaining two home games in December, fans can purchase special Panther Holiday Pack tickets for 50 percent off the regular price. Tickets must be purchased in advance by using the special promo code HOLIDAY.
