Georgia State has lost a game this season on a half-court buzzer beater, but Thursday’s latest loss to Old Dominion may be just as painful.
The Panthers fell short at the free throw line, missing four in the final minute and dropping a 63-60 decision to the Monarchs at the GSU Convocation Center.
“It was a gut-wrenching fashion the way we lost,” Georgia State coach Jonas Hayes said. “I do think our guys played hard, we’ve just got to play a little smarter.”
Georgia State (10-15, 3-10 Sun Belt) had a 53-52 lead when Old Dominion scored seven straight points and led 59-53 with 2:57 remaining. The Panthers responded and twice got to within a point on two occasions, leaving Dwon Odom on the line for two shots with 36.4 seconds left.
Odom, an 81.2% free throw shooter, missed two to leave GSU trailing by a point. Old Dominion capitalized and pushed the margin to three points when reserve Imo Essien connected on a falling-away jumper as the time clock neared its expiration. There were only six seconds left.
Old Dominion fouled Odom with 2.9 seconds left. He missed the first free throw and intentionally missed the second, but Essien ended up with rebound as the horn sounded.
The free throw issues sullied an otherwise fine game by Odom, who scored 15 points on 7-for-9 shooting with four rebounds and five assists. Ja’Heim Hudson scored 15 points with eight rebounds and two blocks and Jamaine Mann had 12 points with six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Old Dominion (15-10, 7-6) got 16 points from Tyreek Scott-Grayson -- eight of them coming in the final seven minutes after top defender Collin Moore fouled out. Moore had been marking him effectively for most of the game. The Monarchs also added 14 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks from Mekhi Long.
“I feel like we played really hard and coming back in that last little stretch, that showed our will and our fight,” Mann said. “I’m never going to quit. We’re going to get ready for the next one, watch a lot of film and try to get better.”
Georgia State trailed 29-22 at the break, but tied the game on a 9-2 run to start the second half. From there the margin never got wider than six points.
“We just play hard,” Hudson said. “Even when we’re down or things aren’t going our way, we just try to stay together and play hard. That’s what it was.”
Georgia State completes its four-game homestand on Saturday at 2 p.m. against Marshall, the team that routed the Panthers 103-65 on Jan. 28.
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