What You Need to Know:
* Georgia State earned an 83-70 win over Appalachian State on Saturday as four seniors played their final home game in the GSU Sports Arena.
* Jeremy Hollowell led the Panthers with 18 points and seven rebounds.
* Seniors Markus Crider and T.J. Shipes won for the 80th time in a Panther uniform, tied for the fourth most in school history.
ATLANTA-Four players finished in double figures and a hot-shooting first half led Georgia State to a 83-70 win over Appalachian State on Senior Day Saturday at the GSU Sports Arena.
Redshirt-junior Jeremy Hollowell led the Panthers with 18 points and seven rebounds as the Panthers knocked down 17 of their 25 shots to lead by as many as 24 in the first half.
Senior T.J. Shipes added 11 points and seven rebounds, while senior Kevin Ware added 14 points and four assists. Redshirt-sophomore Isaiah Williams finished with 14 points and six assists.
Senior Markus Crider, who tied Jihad Ali's school-record with 126 career games played, just missed a double-double with nine points and seven rebounds. He and Shipes won their 80th career games, tied for fourth-most in school history.
Georgia State (15-12, 8-10 Sun Belt) finished the home portion of the schedule 12-3 and will now head to Louisiana for the final two regular season games looking to qualify for the conference tournament in New Orleans.
Appalachian State (7-22, 5-13) was led by Ronshad Shabazz who scored 23 points, knocking down five 3-pointers, while Frank Eaves added 17 points and made three from outside the arc.
“I am extremely honored to be able to coach that group of young men who are seniors,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “That was my first recruiting class with Markus, T.J. and R.J., and we asked those guys to take a leap of faith. Tonight was the 80th time those guys won and that is a special number. To win 80 games in four years is a tremendous honor.”
The Mountaineers took an early 10-3 lead with just over 16 minutes remaining before the Panthers took control of the game.
Georgia State took the lead 13-12 following a 7-0 run which quickly turned into a 25-5 run as the Panthers pushed the lead to 28-15 with 8:40 remaining.
On a Hollowell 3-pointer with 3:32 remaining in the first half, Georgia State took its biggest lead of the game, 44-20.
The Panthers went into the locker room with a 49-30 lead, shooting 57 percent for the half, while holding Appalachian State to just 34 percent. Georgia State hit 6-of-10 from 3-point range and outrebounded the Mountaineers 21-13.
Georgia State maintained a double digit lead throughout the entire second half. The closest Appalachian State could get was 11 points, 68-57, with 5:47 to play. The Panthers immediately responded with a 6-0 run and pushed the lead to 76-58 with just over four minutes to play.
Senior Jalen Brown played one last time at home, knocking down a 3-pointer in six minutes. Jordan Session added eight points for the Panthers which scored a season-high in points and shot 50.8 percent from the floor, while knocking 7-of-16 from 3-point range.
Georgia State will make its final regular season road trip of the year, leaving for Louisiana next week. The Panthers will play UL Lafayette on Thursday at 8:15 p.m., followed by a 5 p.m. match-up with UL Monroe on March 5.
