Georgia State’s seniors put on a show in their final game at GSU Sports Arena.
Malik Benlevi, Devin Mitchell, Jeff Thomas and Jordan Tyson combined for 42 points Saturday afternoon as the Panthers came away with a comprehensive 83-70 victory over Arkansas-Little Rock.
“It was emotional,” coach Ron Hunter said. “I’ve spent a lot of time with these guys, so this is a hard day for me to see them leave. … It’s like when my own children leave the nest, that’s how I feel about these seniors.”
Before the game, junior D’Marcus Simonds, the defending Sun Belt Player of the Year and NBA prospect, announced via his Instagram account that this would also be his last home game. He finished with 10 points, five assists and five steals. When asked, Hunter said he “doubts” Simonds will return for his senior season.
As he has all season, Rayjon Tucker led the Trojans. Tucker is the fourth-leading scorer in the conference, and he put up 26 against the Panthers to lead all scorers in the game. Kris Bankston also had 15 points and six rebounds.
Even with the game out of hand in the second half, the Sun Belt foes kept things entertaining. Tucker tried to give the Trojans (10-19, 5-11 Sun Belt) some momentum when he cut the lead to 17 at the 10:04 mark with a dunk that could be felt in Cobb County. It’s no exaggeration to say his entire head was above the rim.
But Nelson Phillips of the Panthers (21-9, 12-5) simultaneously lit up the crowd and hushed Tucker moments later, as he came the other way with a poster slam of his own, restoring the lead to 19 and forcing a Little Rock timeout with 9:47 to play. Phillips finished with 14 points and five rebounds off the bench.
The dunk show wasn’t over, though. Kris Bankston made a reverse dunk from underneath the basket for the Trojans with 7:36 left in the game. Then, feeling the momentum, Nikola Maric put Tyson on a poster with a two-handed slam less than two minutes later.
Despite still trailing 81-59 at the time, Maric stared down Tyson after the play, resulting in a technical foul and an ejection for Maric, who had received his first technical earlier in the half.
The four seniors plus Simonds left the game with 2:03 remaining to a standing ovation. As a class, they have one NCAA Tournament appearance and now three 20-win seasons.
“We’re brothers, so just being out there one last time, you definitely felt it. Every shot that Malik made or Jeff made, I just cherished it a little bit more,” Mitchell said.
While Hunter was emotional as he took the seniors out, he also valued the players left on the floor.
“When I took our seniors out and I saw Damon (Wilson) out there and I saw Kane (Williams) out there and I saw Nelson out there -- that’s the beauty of it. We’re not going anywhere. They understand the culture, and all they know is winning,” Hunter said.
Earlier, Phillips had put the punctuation on a dominant Georgia State first half, and it was nothing short of an exclamation mark. Mitchell dropped the ball off to Phillips in transition, and the freshman guard crossed over from left to right, opening a lane to the hoop, where he threw down a right-handed flush. The dunk put the Panthers up 22 points with one minute left in the half.
Little Rock’s poor first-half play was the main reason for the Trojans’ 43-23 deficit at the break. Their 13 turnovers led to 16 Georgia State points. As a team, they made a measly six field goals in the half, including only one in the final 9:47.
The Panthers’ final game of the season will be against in-state rival Georgia Southern at 5 p.m. March 9. The two teams were tied for second place in the Sun Belt entering Saturday. The top two teams get an automatic berth in the semifinals of the Sun Belt tournament.
With the calendar flipped to March, Hunter’s team is where it wanted to be all season.
“Special things happen to this program in March, and these guys have been waiting for March for a long time,” he said.
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