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Corey Allen

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Corey Allen

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Justin Roberts

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Corey Allen

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Corey Allen

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Evan Johnson

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Eliel Nsoseme

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Eliel Nsoseme

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Kane Williams

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Eliel Nsoseme

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Championship Wall

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Championship Wall

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Championship Wall

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Championship Wall

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Championship Wall

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Championship Wall

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Rob Lanier

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Eliel Nsoseme

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Kane Williams

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Justin Roberts

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Justin Roberts

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Jalen Thomas

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Jalen Thomas

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Eliel Nsoseme

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Kane Williams

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Kane Williams

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Corey Allen

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Jalen Thomas

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Jalen Thomas

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Corey Allen

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Eliel Nsoseme

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Eliel Nsoseme

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Corey Allen

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Chien Hao Ma

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Corey Allen

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Corey Allen

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Evan Johnson

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Kane Williams

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Eliel Nsoseme

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Eliel Nsoseme

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Kaleb Scott

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Jalen Thomas and Kalik Brooks

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Evan Johnson

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Rob Lanier

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Corey Allen

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Rob Lanier

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Rob Lanier

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Corey Allen

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Rob Lanier

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Kane Williams

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Kane Williams

Photo Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Men's Basketball 3/6/2022 11:45:00 PM

Championship Game Bound: Panthers Top Appalachian State 71-66

Box Score PENSACOLA, Fla.-Senior Corey Allen scored a season-high 29 points, Eliel Nsoseme recorded another double-double and the Georgia State men's basketball team earned a 71-66 win over Appalachian State on Sunday night to advance to the Hercules Tires Sun Belt Conference Championship Game on Monday night.

Allen had his best shooting performance of the year going 9-of-16 from the floor with six 3-pointers, dishing out eight assists and grabbing six rebounds. Nsoseme added 12 points and 10 rebounds for his second-straight double-double, fifth of the year, 11^th of his career, and fourth in five Sun Belt Conference tournament games.

Georgia State (17-10) won for the ninth-straight time and 11^th time in 12 games while extracting a measure of revenge on Appalachian State (19-14) which defeated the Panthers in the championship game last year.

The Panthers will now face No. 8-seed Louisiana in the Sun Belt Conference Championship Game on Monday night at 7 p.m. ET, live on ESPN2 and WRAS-FM 88.5.

The Mountaineers were led by Adrian Delph who scored 25 points going 5-of-10 from 3-point range, while Michael Almonacy added 14 points. Appalachian State went 13-of-26 from 3-point range, but turned the ball over 15 times which led to 16 GSU points.

The Panthers have now won 10 of the last 11 neutral court conference tournament games and will be making their sixth appearance in the Sun Belt Championship Game since 2014.

Georgia State used an early 9-0 run to take a 12-8 lead just six minutes into the game as Allen knocked down a pair of 3-pointers.

The Panthers hot start continued as Evan Johnson knocked down a 3-pointer to give GSU a 24-22 lead with 8:25 to play.

The Mountaineers responded with a 7-0 run capped by an Delph 3-pointer to take a 29-27 lead at the under four-minute media timeout. Out of the timeout, Allen knocked down another 3-pointer to put the Panthers back ahead 30-29.

Allen's 3-pointer started an 11-0 run that was capped by another 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the Panthers into the locker room with a 38-29 lead. Georgia State held Appalachian State scoreless the final 4:11 of the opening half.

Allen finished the first half with 17 points going 5-of-7 from 3-point range as the Panthers shot 53.6 percent from the floor and 7-of-12 from 3-point range.

On the opening possession of the second half, Nsoseme's dunk put the Panthers ahead by double figures, a lead GSU would hold for most of the half. Midway thru the half, Nsoseme made back-to-back buckets to give the Panthers a 51-38 lead with 12:13 to play.

However, Appalachian State would not go away and on made three-straight 3-pointers to cut Georgia State's lead to just 55-52 with 6:58 remaining.

A 3-pointer by Delph cut Georgia State's lead to just 57-55 with 6:03 to play, but the Mountaineers were then held scoreless until RJ Duhart made two free throws with 2:11 remaining.

Allen once again took over scoring seven-straight points to push the lead back to 66-57 with 35 seconds to play and despite Appalachian State knocking down three 3-pointers in the final 30 seconds, the Panthers were able to hold one.

Junior Jalen Thomas just missed a double-double for the Panthers with 11 points and seven rebounds, while senior Kane Williams added eight points, six assists and two steals.

Game Notes
• Georgia State entered the Sun Belt Tournament as a No. 3-seed for the first time. Overall, this is the fifth time the Panthers have been a No. 3 seed in a conference tournament, first since 1999, and have combined for a 4-4 record as the seed.
• GSU is 35-34 all-time in conference tournaments, and 12-5 since returning to the Sun Belt for the 2013-14 season.
• Georgia State is 3-2 since 2014 in Sun Belt Conference Championship Games.
• Georgia State is now 10-9 all-time against Appalachian State and 1-1 in Sun Belt Tournament games.
• Georgia State is 12-7 all-time in conference championships in the state of Florida, winning a conference championship in 1991 in DeLand which led to the Panthers' first NCAA Tournament appearance.
• GSU has won 9-straight games which is the fourth-longest in school history.
• Georgia State has also won 11 of its last 12 games with its lone loss coming by just four points.
• Georgia State has won seven-straight road/neutral games.
• Georgia State has a 25-12 (.676) record in the month of March since the start of the 2013-14 season.
• Kane Williams, who became the all-time wins leader in GSU program history earlier this year, picked up his 100^th career win on Sunday night.
• Georgia State is 12-2 this season when scoring 70 or more points in a game.
• Since 2013-14, GSU has won more games (186) than any other NCAA Division I team in Georgia.

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Players Mentioned

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

Eliel Nsoseme: F; 6' 9"; Junior

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

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

#0 Evan Johnson: G; 5' 11"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

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

Eliel Nsoseme
: 6' 9"; Junior
: F

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

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

#0 Evan Johnson
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: G