Panthers Can’t Shake First Half Woes, Fall to Coastal 95-82

A tough first half showing was too much to overcome, as Georgia State dropped Saturday’s road contest to Coastal Carolina 95-82 in Conway. Hot shooting and a balanced effort in the first half took the Chanticleers out to a 58-33 halftime lead, a lead that would balloon all the way to 33. Junior Tyrell Gumbs-Frater stole the show, dropping 29 points off the bench and making nine three-pointers on 19 attempts. Coastal also benefited from out-rebounding Georgia State 53-34, earning themselves 19 second-chance points.

Junior D’Marcus Simonds led the Panthers with 31 points while creating three steals on the defensive end. Damon Wilson provided an important spark off the bench with 18 points, shooting a perfect 4-4 from downtown. Outside of Simonds and Wilson, the offense couldn’t get much going. The Panthers cut the deficit to 9 with 4:52 to play, but the Chanticleers did enough to ensure the game never got closer than that.

For Georgia State, today’s results knock them into a tie with Georgia Southern for second place in the Sun Belt Conference standings. The Panthers return home next Thursday for their final home stand of the season against the Arkansas schools, drawing the Red Wolves of Arkansas State first on Thursday evening. Tip for that game goes at 7pm.