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Corey Allen

Photo Credit: Scott Donaldson/South Alabama Athletic Media Relations

Justin Roberts

Photo Credit: Scott Donaldson/South Alabama Athletic Media Relations

Jalen Thomas

Photo Credit: Scott Donaldson/South Alabama Athletic Media Relations

Evan Johnson

Photo Credit: Scott Donaldson/South Alabama Athletic Media Relations

Kane Williams

Photo Credit: Scott Donaldson/South Alabama Athletic Media Relations

Collin Moore

Photo Credit: Scott Donaldson/South Alabama Athletic Media Relations

Kane Williams

Photo Credit: Scott Donaldson/South Alabama Athletic Media Relations

Men's Basketball 2/26/2021 11:47:00 PM

Johnson Scores Career-High, Panthers Top Jaguars 84-81

Box Score MOBILE, Ala.-Freshman Evan Johnson scored a career-high 28 points and Georgia State topped South Alabama 84-81 at the Mitchell Center on Friday night. With the win, the Panthers moved to within one-half game of first place of the Sun Belt Conference East Division with one game to play.

Johnson scored the most points by a freshman in a game since R.J. Hunter finished with 38 against Old Dominion during the 2012-13 season. Johnson went 8-of-12 from the floor, 6-of-9 from 3-point range, and 6-of-7 from the free throw line, while also grabbing four rebounds.

Georgia State (13-5, 7-4 Sun Belt) won for a season-best fifth-straight time, while snapping South Alabama's (16-9, 10-6 Sun Belt) eight-game winning streak. It sets up a 'winner-take-all' game on Saturday night at 7 p.m. ET, with the winner earning the Sun Belt Conference East Division title and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament in Pensacola, Fla., next week.

The game was arguably won at the free throw line and off the bench. The Panthers went 19-of-21 from the free throw in the final eight minutes of the game. Georgia State's bench outscored South Alabama's 36-2.

Redshirt-junior Eliel Nsoseme recorded his fourth double-double of the season, scoring 10 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, while Kane Williams and Jalen Thomas each scored 14 points.

South Alabama was led by the Sun Belt's leading scorer Michael Flowers who finished with 32 points, knocking down six of the Jaguars' 15 3-pointers. Kayo Goncalves added 19 points, also knocking down six 3-pointers.

Georgia State got off to a quick start taking a 15-6 lead with 14:39 to play following a 3-pointer by Johnson.

Goncalves spurred a 9-0 Jaguar run making three-straight 3-pointers to help South Alabama tie the game 15-15 with 12:53 to play in the opening half.

The Panthers immediately responded with an 8-0 run to go ahead 23-15, before South Alabama started to chip into the lead. Following an 8-0 run themselves, the Jaguars took a 36-33 lead with just over three minutes to play and went into the half leading 40-39, knocking down eight 3-pointers before the break.

Following a pair of made free throws from Williams, Georgia State took a 52-45 lead five minutes into the second half. Just minutes later, Williams swiped a steal at the top of the key and went the length of the court for a dunk, giving the Panthers a nine-point advantage.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Johnson gave Georgia State a 74-62 lead with 5:02 to play, but the Jaguars immediately responded with a 6-0 run to cut the lead to six at the under four media timeout.

The Jaguars would cut Georgia State's lead to three points on another Flowers 3-pionter with 16 seconds to play, but Corey Allen made two free throws on the other end to all-but secured the victory.

Allen finished with eight points, five rebounds, and four assists, while sophomore Kalik Brooks added a career-high five points in eight minutes off the bench.

Game Highlights
• Georgia State, the most successful team in the Sun Belt since returning to the league for the 2013-14 season, won its 95th league game during that time on Friday night.
• Georgia State improved to 18-16 all-time against South Alabama and has now won 14 of the last 17 games in the series.
• Friday night marked Georgia State's 18^th time on national television since the start of the 2013-14 season. The Panthers are now 6-12 in those games, which have all been away from home, and 5-5 on ESPN2 during that time.
• Georgia State's 13-5 mark is tied for the third-best 18-game start in program history.
• After earning Sun Belt Player of the Week honors on Wednesday, sophomore Jalen Thomas' streak of scoring a career-high in points came to an end at three-straight games on Friday.
• Kane Williams finished the game with 14 points and now has 1,183 for his career, moving ahead of Shellord Pinkett for 14^th on GSU's all-time scoring list. He is now just 10 points shy of Thomas Terrell for 13^th on the all-time list.
• Since returning to the Sun Belt in 2013-14, Georgia State has finished in the top two of the final regular season conference standings five times in seven seasons.
• During that same time, GSU has won more games (166) than any other NCAA Division I team in Georgia.

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Players Mentioned

#11 Corey Allen: G; 6' 2"; Senior

#21 Kalik Brooks: G; 6' 5"; Sophomore

#1 Eliel Nsoseme: F; 6' 9"; Redshirt Junior

#25 Jalen Thomas: F; 6' 10"; Sophomore

#12 Kane Williams: G; 6' 4"; Senior

#0 Evan Johnson: G; 6' 0"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#11 Corey Allen
: 6' 2"; Senior
: G

#21 Kalik Brooks
: 6' 5"; Sophomore
: G

#1 Eliel Nsoseme
: 6' 9"; Redshirt Junior
: F

#25 Jalen Thomas
: 6' 10"; Sophomore
: F

#12 Kane Williams
: 6' 4"; Senior
: G

#0 Evan Johnson
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: G