Georgia State Can’t Finish Late Comeback, Slip Up at Coastal Carolina
A sloppy night controlling the ball doomed Georgia State (10-5, 3-1 in Sun Belt) as they fell in the middle game of their three-game road trip to Coastal Carolina (9-6, 2-2 in Sun Belt) 74-72. Mental mistakes were the story of the day for the Panthers, as they committed 23 turnovers and shot 8-of-14 (57%) from the charity stripe. Guard Justin Roberts led Georgia State with 16 points. Freshman center Joe Jones III contributed well for his second straight outing, narrowly missing a double-double with 9 points and 10 rebounds. For the Chanticleers, DeVante’ Jones led all scorers with 23 points, making four 3-pointers on nine attempts and sparking his team’s strong finish.
It was a back-and-forth affair for the first 20 minutes, with the teams deadlocked at 35 heading into the interval. Georgia State took a 54-51 lead on a Corey Allen three-pointer with 10:34 remaining but couldn’t hold the lead, going over six minutes without points as Jones took over for Coastal, hitting three 3s and forcing turnovers to give the Chants a multiple-possession lead. The Panthers fell behind 67-58 with 2:26 on the clock on a Keishawn Brewton 3 before turning on the pressure, clawing back in the game by forcing turnovers of their own and finishing at the rack. A Justin Roberts layup made it a 74-72 Coastal lead with 1.5 seconds left and the Chanticleers’ Garrick Green missed two free throws that could have iced the game, but Kavonte Ivery’s prayer from beyond halfcourt was off-target and the Panthers’ comeback bid was foiled.
Georgia State finishes their longest road trip of the conference season at Arkansas State on Monday, January 6. Tipoff in Jonesboro is at 8pm EST.
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