After losing its last two games, each in the final seconds, Georgia State needed some good news on Wednesday against William and Mary.
They got it from a lot of different places.
For one of the few times this year they completed a game, knocking off William and Mary 74-58 by hitting 23 of 25 free throws and committing just one turnover in the second half. A season-high crowd of more than 2,300 attended the “Barefoot for Bare Feet” game, so named because coach Ron Hunter coached without shoes and socks to help raise awareness for the charity Samaritan’s Feet.
“This is the best team win I’ve had since I’ve been at Georgia State,” Hunter said.
Manny Atkins continued his good play, leading the Panthers with 21 points, his second consecutive game scoring at least 20 points. Leading scorer R.J. Hunter, who was a game-time decision after injuring his foot in Saturday’s loss to Delaware, played 23 minutes and scored six points. It wasn’t all good. Before the game it was announced that the team would be without three players: forward T.J. Shipes (concussion) and guard Cameron Solomon and forward Denny Burguillos, who both sat out for an academic-related issue.
That the win came with contributions from players like Kevin Shaw, LaRon Smith and David Travers made Hunter all the more happy with the victory.
"We had more adversity than you can imagine," Hunter said. "We were playing guys that hadn't played all year and not only did they play, but they played double-figure minutes."
William and Mary (7-9, 1-4) seemed like it could be the right opponent at the right time. When last the two teams played at the Sports Arena in 2011, Georgia State’s defense held the Tribe to 13 points in the first half and 34 in the game.
It wasn’t as easy on Wednesday after William and Mary came within a point of tying that point total in the first half.
Already playing with a depleted frontcourt, James Vincent and Smith, in his first extended action of the season, each picked up two fouls with more eight minutes remaining in the half. They were part of the 23 fouls called in the half, 13 against Georgia State. In addition, the Panthers couldn’t shoot, going more than nine minutes without a field goal. But as they’ve done most of the season, the Panthers continued to play hard and that work paid off with a 10-4 run to close the half, capped by Kevin Shaw’s 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut the Panthers’ deficit to five, 33-28.
The Panthers came out hot in the second half after shooting just 33.3 percent in the first half, taking a one-point lead on a jumper by Rashaad Richardson with 14:43 left. Back-to-back baskets by Markus Crider and Richardson pushed the lead to 48-43 with 13:51 left.
Georgia State stretched the lead to 13 on a 3-pointer in the corner by Richardson followed by a dunk by Vincent with 4:48 left. Richardson finished with 12 points, all in the second half.
“We needed somebody in the second half to give us some baskets early and he ignited us early,” Hunter said.
Instead of giving up the lead late, like they did in their previous two games, the Panthers were able to hold on against the Tribe by hitting all 12 of their free-throw attempts in the final two minutes, including six by Atkins.
“At some point this group is going to be really special and they keep getting better every day,” Hunter said.
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