Panthers Recover in Second Half, Escape South Alabama 90-81

Senior Malik Benlevi’s 26 points helped power the Panthers past the South Alabama Jaguars Friday night at the GSU Sports Arena.

Georgia State converted only one-third of shot attempts to scores in the first half, allowing South Alabama to lead by as much as 18 points.

The Panthers turned a corner after halftime, shooting an incredible 71% inside the arc and 57% beyond. Defense held the Jaguars to merely 29% from two and only 15.4% from three., and rode this imbalance to their first second half lead with under 13 minutes to go.

South Alabama fought back and retook the lead until a Devin Mitchell three-pointer put the Panthers back on top with seven minutes left.

The Georgia State bench had a great game, with Jeff Thomas scoring 21 points while Damon Wilson and Nelson Phillips contributed five assists together and four rebounds apiece.

Statistics of note, courtesy of Georgia State Sports Communications:

• Jeff Thomas and Devin Mitchell are now tied for third place in career 3-pointers made at 199. Malik Benlevi is ninth at 163.
• Jeff Thomas is also now 15th on the all-time scoring list.

The Panthers begin the final two-game road trip of the season on THERSday, February 21st when they travel to Boone, NC to face Appalachian State.