ATLANTA — Manny Atkins scored 23 points and pulled down 12 rebounds as Georgia State defeated Georgia Southern 73-61 on Friday night.
Ryan Harrow added 22 points and R.J. Hunter had 16 points for the Panthers.
Brian Holmes led the Eagles (6-7) in their final non-conference matchup with the Panthers in a career night. He finished the game with 19 points and seven assists. Overall three Eagles finished in double figures with Jelani Hewitt posting 15 and nine rebounds while Tre Bussey had 13 points in 39 minutes of play.
“I was happy with the way we played tonight, we adjusted well at halftime to what Georgia State was doing,” Southern coach Mark Byington said. “I thought our guards did a good job of directing us, but we didn’t do a great job finishing at the rim. We had been shooting well at the free throw line recently, but we didn’t have the rhythm tonight.”
Georgia Southern shot 42.3 percent from the field. The Eagles were 22-of-52 from the field and 11-of-26 from 3-point range. The Eagles had 13 assists on the night, a season-best against Division I opposition.
Southern trailed 36-29 at the halftime break, but came out with an 11-3 run to start the second half to post its first lead (40-39) of the second stanza.
The Panthers, however, took the lead with 13:02 left in the second half and didn’t look back, stringing together a 12-2 run to take control of the contest.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN (6-7)
Matias 4-11 0-2 8, Baynham 2-2 0-2 4, Hewitt 4-14 3-4 15, Bussey 5-14 0-0 13, Holmes 6-9 3-5 19, Mike 0-0 0-0 0, Diamond 0-1 0-0 0, Doyle 1-1 0-1 2. Totals 22-52 6-14 61.
GEORGIA ST. (5-6)
Atkins 8-13 5-8 23, Washington 0-1 0-0 0, White 2-9 2-2 7, Hunter 5-9 3-3 16, Harrow 8-13 3-5 22, Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Green 0-1 1-2 1, Shaw 0-0 0-0 0, Hinton 0-0 0-0 0, Shipes 0-0 0-0 0, Crider 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 25-51 14-20 73.
Halftime—Georgia St. 36-29. 3-Point Goals—Georgia Southern 11-26 (Holmes 4-5, Hewitt 4-10, Bussey 3-9, Matias 0-1, Diamond 0-1), Georgia St. 9-22 (Harrow 3-6, Hunter 3-7, Atkins 2-5, White 1-3, Green 0-1). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Georgia Southern 33 (Hewitt 9), Georgia St. 32 (Atkins 12). Assists—Georgia Southern 13 (Holmes 7), Georgia St. 15 (White 10). Total Fouls—Georgia Southern 18, Georgia St. 15. Technical—Georgia Southern Bench. A—1,893.
WOMEN
EASTERN ILLINOIS 57,
GEORGIA SOUTHERN 50
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Eastern Illinois forward Sabina Oroszova had 20 points, 17 rebounds and five assists, and Georgia Southern shot a shade under 28 percent from the floor as the Panthers posted a victory over the Eagles in the first game of the Hampton Inn Oceanfront Holiday Classic.
GSU (3-8) finishes the tournament today by taking on the hosts, North Florida, at 3:30 p.m. in UNF Arena.
Against Eastern Illinois, Anna Claire Knight led Southern with 17 points, and Jordi Cook netted six off the bench. The Eagles were 18 of 65 from the field and 5 of 22 from 3-point range, but three of those triples came inside the final 3:30 after Eastern Illinois had built a 16-point cushion.
Katlyn Payne recorded 13 points and six rebounds for the Panthers (4-6), and Aaliyah Gaines chipped in 10 points and five rebounds off the bench. Georgia Southern held the Panthers to 38 percent shooting, 33 percent in the first half.
The Eagles battled in the first half and trailed just 22-20 at intermission, despite making just 7-of-30 from the field. Lacie Dowling brought GSU to within one point at 26-25 with a 3-pointer from the wing just under three minutes into the second half, but Eastern Illinois responded with a 14-2 run over the next 7:12 to open a 13-point cushion.
Payne started the run with a 3-pointer from the corner, while Oroszova scored five points and Gaines added four. The margin grew to as many as 16 points on an Oroszova layup with 4:25 remaining.
Georgia Southern made a late run as Cook came off the bench to hit consecutive triples. Knight added a third-straight 3-pointer, trimming the lead to 47-40, but Payne got free in the corner for her fourth 3-pointer of the game to send the margin back to 10.
After a missed shot on their next possession, the Eagles elected to foul to extend the game. A conventional 3-point play on a rebound and putback for Knight drew GSU to within seven points with 1:28 to play, but the Panthers made 5-of-8 from the line to seal the win.
EASTERN ILLINOIS (4-6)
Oroszova 8-18 4-8 20, Payne 4-7 1-2 13, Palombizio 1-4 0-0 2, Olson 1-3 0-0 2, Crunk 0-8 2-2 2, Gaines 3-8 4-6 10, Brown 2-3 0-0 4, Thomas 1-1 0-0 2, Kalleberger 0-0 0-0 0, Danos 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-55 11-19 57.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN (3-8)
Knight 6-15 4-5 17, Dowling 3-13 0-0 8, DuBose 2-14 0-0 5, Spencer 2-8 1-2 5, Jones 2-5 0-0 4, Kirkland 1-4 3-4 5, McGowan 1-3 1-2 3, Cook 1-3 0-0 3, Marcus 0-0 0-0 0, Corcoran 0-0 0-0 0, Roberts 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-65 9-13 50.
Halftime—EIU, 22-20. 3-point goals—EIU 4-15 (Oroszova 0-3, Payne 4-7, Palombizio 0-1, Crunk 0-3, Gaines 0-1), GSU 5-22 (Knight 1-5, Dowling 2-4, DuBose 1-11, Cook 1-2). Fouled out—Dowling, DuBose (GSU). Rebounds—EIU 52 (Oroszova 17), GSU 38 (Spencer 13). Assists—EIU 13 (Oroszova 5), GSU 8 (Knight, Dowling 2). Total fouls—EIU 16, GSU 18. Technicals—None. A—NA.