Men’s Basketball

Georgia State’s men’s basketball season is officially underway with a 101-56 win over Division II Clayton State. Here were some of my takeaways from Press Row at the Sports Arena, as well as postgame quotes from Georgia State head coach Rob Lanier:

Georgia State went cold shooting in the second half and couldn’t fight back from a 14-point deficit late as Appalachian State won the Sun Belt Conference Basketball Championship 80-73 and earned the conference’s automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Georgia State blew a 17-point halftime lead but persevered in the end to beat Louisiana in the Sun Belt conference semifinals 84-73, earning a spot in the Sun Belt title game for the fifth time in their eight seasons in the conference.

Georgia State withstood a big challenge and a lights-outs perimeter shooting performance from Arkansas State to escape an upset bid in the Sun Belt tournament quarterfinals, winning 71-68.

For the second day in a row, Georgia State (14-5, 8-4 in Sun Belt) used a blistering offensive pace and held off a late South Alabama (16-10, 10-7 in Sun Belt) run to win 82-73 en route to their 6th straight win and clinch the Sun Belt East Division title.

In a high-octane battle of the best in the Sun Belt East, Georgia State (13-5, 7-4 in Sun Belt) outlasted South Alabama (16-9, 10-6 in Sun Belt) 84-81 to win their fifth straight and set up a winner-take-all game for the division crown tomorrow in the regular season finale.

Georgia State got a record shooting performance from senior guard Kane Williams and sophomore forward Jalen Thomas set a career high in points for a third successive game as they downed Appalachian State, 85-71.

The Georgia State Panthers (11-5, 5-4 in Sun Belt) used a fast start in each half to defeat the Troy Trojans (10-14, 4-8 in Sun Belt) 65-53.