Panthers Top Prairie View A&M 83-74 in 2K Empire Classic

Box Score RIVERSIDE, Calif.-Georgia State topped Prairie View A&M 83-74 on Friday night at the CBU Events Center in the 2K Empire Classic benefiting Wounded Warrior Project in a match-up of two teams that played in the 2019 NCAA Tournament.

Redshirt-junior Corey Allen led the Panthers with 18 points and five rebounds, while junior Kane Williams added 17 points and six rebounds, knocking down his final five free throw attempts to help clinch the win.

Georgia State (2-3) will play the winner of Central Arkansas and California Baptist on Saturday night at either 7:30 p.m. or 10 p.m. ET. Prairie View A&M (1-5) will play the loser of this evening's second game. The game can be heard on WRAS-FM 88.5 with Sam Crenshaw calling the action. The games will also air live on FloHoops with Justin Simmons and David Miguel on the call.

Gerard Andrus led Prairie View A&M with a double-double including game-high 23 points and 14 rebounds. Jonathan Jackson came off the bench to add 11 points while Tamir Bynum scored 10 points and added six assists.

Redshirt-junior Justin Roberts added 14 points for the Panthers, while senior Damon Wilson finished with 13 points, six assists, and five rebounds.

"That was a really good win over a really solid and scrappy team," head coach Rob Lanier said. "Our guys needed a win like that where we had to compete for 40 minutes. We made our free throws down the stretch and didn't allow Prairie View A&M to make a field goal in the final few minutes which was huge for us."

On back to back 3-pointers by Roberts and Allen, Georgia State took an early 11-5 lead just over five minutes into the game.

The Panthers used a 7-0 run that included a 3-pointer by Nelson Phillips to take a 26-15 lead with 8:52 to play in the half causing Prairie View A&M to call a timeout.
Prairie View A&M responded with a 7-0 run of its own to trail just 26-22 with 6:36 to play. A jumper by Bynum tied the game with 30.7 seconds to play in the half, and send the two teams into the locker room tied at 38.

Georgia State opened the second half with an 8-0 run to take a 46-38 lead with 16:10 to play and pushed the lead to as many as 11 before Prairie View A&M responded with a 9-0 run to cut GSU's lead to just 53-51 with 12:02 remaining.

Leading by one, Georgia State responded with a 6-0 run and took a 63-56 lead with 8:31 to play as Damon Wilson knocked down his first 3-pointer of the game.
Georgia State held Prairie View A&M without a field goal for the final 3:30 of the game to transform a four point lead to a nine point final.

Notes:

The Panthers improved to 1-2 and 14-14 in in-season tournaments since the start of the 2011-12 season.
With a 3-pointer tonight, Georgia State has made at least one 3-pointer in 753 games dating back to Feb. 18, 1995.
Since the start of the 2013-14 season, the Panthers have won 136 games, the most of any NCAA Division 1 program in the state of Georgia.
Georgia State played its first game in the state of California since facing Fresno State in Feb. 1999.

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Players Mentioned

#11 Corey Allen: G; 6' 2"; Redshirt Junior

#10 Nelson Phillips: G; 6' 4"; Sophomore

#2 Justin Roberts: G; 5' 11"; Redshirt Sophomore

#12 Kane Williams: G; 6' 3"; Junior

#1 Damon Wilson: G; 6' 5"; Redshirt Senior

Players Mentioned

#11 Corey Allen
: 6' 2"; Redshirt Junior
: G

#10 Nelson Phillips
: 6' 4"; Sophomore
: G

#2 Justin Roberts
: 5' 11"; Redshirt Sophomore
: G

#12 Kane Williams
: 6' 3"; Junior
: G

#1 Damon Wilson
: 6' 5"; Redshirt Senior
: G