Box Score ATLANTA-Georgia State jumped out to an early lead and led throughout to top Appalachian State 76-65 on Thursday night at the GSU Sports Arena.

Justin Roberts led Georgia State (17-9, 10-5 Sun Belt) with 17 points, four rebounds, and four assists while knocking down five of the Panthers' 13 3-pointers.

Appalachian State (14-12, 8-7 Sun Belt) missed 16 of its first 17 shots and shot just 32.8 percent, including just 5-of-21 from 3-point range.

Georgia State has now won 24 of their last 26 home games and have a won four-straight over the Mountaineers.

Junior Kane Williams added 15 points, seven rebounds, and five assists, while sophomore Nelson Phillips scored 16 points including four 3-pointers.

The Mountaineers were led by Kendall Lewis who scored 24 points and grabbed seven rebounds while O'Showen Williams scored 17 points.

"I thought tonight in a match-up against a very good team that had been playing very well, we were going to have come out and be a very disciplined team," head coach Rob Lanier said. "We talk about in every game which team is going to play the hardest the longest and we did that tonight. We came out with a focused effort and we defended really well."

Georgia State opened the game with the first nine points including five from senior Damon Wilson before Appalachian State finally scored just under five minutes into the game. The Mountaineers started the game making just one of their first 17 shots and went a stretch of more than seven minutes without a field goal. The Panthers pushed the lead to 25-5 with 8:46 to play in the opening half.

Trailing by 21, Appalachian State used a 9-0 run to cut Georgia State's lead to 34-22 with 3:22 to play before a Josh Linder lay-up on the other end.
Georgia State went into the locker room with a 41-26 lead after going 7-of-14 from 3-point range before the break.

Georgia State scored five of the first seven second half points before the Mountaineers used an 8-0 run to cut the Panther lead to 46-36 with 15:07 to play.

The Mountaineers continued to cut into Georgia State's lead and got as close as 56-49 with 8:22 to play before Roberts knocked down two 3-pointers for the Panthers to push the lead back into double figures.

Leading 67-57, Phillips and Wilson knocked down 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to put Georgia State ahead 73-57 with under five minutes to play. Appalachian State would get no closer than the final score.

Wilson finished with 10 points, five rebounds, and five assists, while freshman Jalen Thomas added six points and five boards.

Georgia State held Justin Forrest to just 11 points on 3-of-19 shooting.

Notes:

• Georgia State has compiled an 88-39 league record since rejoining the Sun Belt Conference in 2013-14.
• Georgia State leads the all-time series with Appalachian State 7-5.
• Redshirt-junior Chris Clerkley has been a part of 85 wins in a GSU uniform. He is just three wins shy of being a part of the winningest four-year stretch in program history.
• With a 3-pointer tonight, Georgia State has made at least one 3-pointer in 774 games dating back to Feb. 18, 1995.
• Since the start of the 2013-14 season, the Panthers have won 151 games, the most of any NCAA Division 1 program in the state of Georgia.

Georgia State will remain at home and face Coastal Carolina on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the GSU Sports Arena. The game will air live on ESPN+ and can be heard on the GSU Mobile App.