For the second time this season, the Troy basketball team had Georgia State’s number.
The Trojans entered the game Saturday having lost three consecutive by an average of 21 points, but found a way to erase a seven-point deficit with five minutes left and stun Georgia State 84-78. The loss ended Georgia State’s 14-game win streak at GSU Sports Arena.
Georgia State again had trouble slowing Troy’s Ty Gordon. The junior guard went for a season-high 20 points when the teams met last month and was even better Saturday, scoring 24 points and leading the Trojans’ dramatic comeback.
Gordon had a 3-pointer and a fast-break layup to tie the score at 74-74 with 3:03 left. Davion Thomas completed the 8-0 run with an unlikely 3-pointer as the clock wound down.
It was a one-point game when Georgia State’s Josh Linder scored on a third putback to make the score 79-78 with 12.3 seconds left. And the Panthers had a chance when Tahj Small missed the front end of a one-and-one, with Linder grabbing a rebound to start a break. The Panthers had a chance to win, but Justin Roberts missed in traffic and Troy had the rebound.
Troy (9-15, 5-8 Sun Belt) also got 23 points from Desmond Williams, 14 points from K.J. Simon and 13 from Charles Thomas.
Georgia State (15-8, 8-4) was led by Corey Allen with 25 points, Roberts with 14 points, 13 points and nine rebounds from Kane Williams and 12 points and eight rebounds from Linder.
Georgia State shot an exemplary 52.8 percent from the floor in the first half, but that couldn’t keep up with Troy. The Trojans shot 54.8 percent and were 10-for-19 on 3-pointers, a remarkable 52.6 percent.
Georgia State went ahead by five when Roberts canned back-to-back 3-pointers, converting the second one into a four-point play when he was fouled and made the free throw. That gave the Panthers a 25-20 lead with 11:55 left.
But Troy kept firing and hitting and led by as many as seven points before Georgia State finished the half with two consecutive buckets to cut the lead to 52-40.
The shots quit falling for both teams to start the second half until Georgia State put together a 9-3 run and took a 65-61 lead when Linder converted a three-point play with 9:17 left.
The score was tied 65-65 with 8:20 left when Georgia State scored seven consecutive points. An Allen 3-pointer a split second before the shot clock expired, a steal and fast break that Linder finished at the rim and a second-effort layup by Williams put the Panthers ahead 72-65 with 5:10 remaining.
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