HARRISONBURG, VA --The Georgia State men's basketball team fell at James Madison 83-63 Thursday at the Atlantic Bank Center.

The Panthers (11-14, 5-8) had three players score in double figures, led by Julian Mackey, who scored a career-high 18 points, and Leslie Nkereuwem, who added 15 points and eight rebounds.

Playing their fourth straight game against a top-three team in the Sun Belt, Georgia State got off to a very tough start, falling behind 17-0.

"You can't dig that deep of a hole versus a team that good and expect to get the result you want," head coach Jonas Hayes. "It was all encompassing. They beat us to 50-50 balls, we missed shot we normally make, and they got good shot after good shot. We didn't start with the defensive intensity we needed."

The James Madison (23-3, 10-3) lead ballooned to as many as 31 late in the first half, and Georgia State trailed 51-26 at the half. The Panthers fought back in the second half and managed to cut their deficit to 13 points with 6:21 to play but could get no closer. 

After managing to hit just 28 percent from the field in the first half, Georgia State bounced back with a 50 percent clip in the second half to outscore JMU 37-32 after the intermission.

A bright spot for Georgia State was the play of freshman Malik Ferguson off the bench. Seeing his first action in more than a month, he hit four 3-pointers and scored 12 points. 

Scoring in double figures for the fifth straight game, Nkereuwem equaled his season high with 15 points. He has averaged 14.7 points over the last three contests.

Georgia State plays its final road game Saturday at Old Dominion at 7 p.m. The Panthers play their final four regular-season games at home at the GSU Convocation Center, beginning Feb. 21 vs. Coastal Carolina at 7 p.m. For tickets, visit GeorgiaStateSports.com/tix.