It was quite an atmosphere for the first regulation basketball game at the new GSU Convocation Center on Monday.
They wheeled out a pair of brand-new flame-shooting machines for the pregame introductions, the cheerleaders wore shoes that glowed in the dark and the pep band wore out its traditional version of “House of the Rising Sun.”
And they played a little basketball, too.
With five new starters, the Georgia State men gave coach Jonas Hayes a win in his debut on the bench. The Panthers were tested by Coastal Georgia before coming away with a 76-59 win before a crowd of 2,089.
It was the ninth consecutive year Georgia State has won its opening game.
“I’m glad to have this thing going,” said Hayes, an Atlanta native who was hired away from Xavier last spring when Rob Lanier left after three seasons to take the job at SMU.
“It’s a great, neat experience for us. Again, as we put this program together, it has a lot of moving parts, a lot of newness to this deal. I think to get this first one out of the way in the fashion that we did bodes well for us in the future.”
As far as firsts for the new building, returning guard Evan Johnson made the first basket – a nice 3-pointer that found only net – and Edward Nnamoko recorded the first blocked shot in his first college game. And when Ja’Heim Hudson drained his first 3-pointer, it drew a chant from the student section.
Hudson, who played more minutes than any other returner from last season’s Sun Belt champion team, had 16 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks to pace the Panthers with his second career double-double. Newcomer Dwon Odom, a transfer from Xavier, scored 16, and Johnson and Brenden Tucker, a transfer from the College of Charleston, each scored 11.
“I love the building; the crowd was electrifying tonight,” Hudson said. “I love how everybody’s showing up and giving us so much support. It’s amazing.”
GSU scored the first nine points and never trailed. Coastal Georgia, an NAIA team from Brunswick, twice got to within one point, the last time at 22-21, but the Panthers buckled down on defense and outscored the Mariners 9-2 and led 31-23 at halftime.
Coastal Georgia got as close as 40-36 on a basket with 14:22 remaining, but GSU went on a 9-0 run sparked by a three-point play and a four-point play from Jamaine Mann, the transfer from Vanderbilt. Coastal got as close as six points, but another 9-0 spurt put the game away.
Coastal Georgia got 15 points and eight rebounds from Mason McMurray and 13 points each from Rodney Wiley Jr. and Layton Veon.
Coastal Georgia did a nice job with its zone defense. Georgia State made only 37.5% of its field goals and was 9-for-25 on 3s.
“We wanted to create some adversity to see how the guys would respond to it,” Hayes said. “I thought we did enough to figure some things out in that zone.”
The team showed its promise for a strong inside presence. Nnamoko, a 6-foot-10 true freshman from Nigeria, had eight points, six rebounds and three blocks in 18 minutes. Joe Jones III, a 6-9 redshirt sophomore, had three rebounds, a block and a steal in his first action since missing two seasons with an injury.
The Panthers host Georgia Tech on Saturday in the last year of a three-year deal. But Hayes said that hasn’t been his focus. “My right hand to God, I’ve not thought much about that. I’ve been really, really focused on Coastal Georgia, and we’re ready to flip the page on that soon enough. I want to put this game to bed, and we’ll move forward.”
The Georgia State women opened with a 114-31 win over Agnes Scott. Eight of the team’s nine players scored in double figures, and everyone played at least 18 minutes. Freshman Zay Dyer and Deasia Merrill led the way with 17 points and eight rebounds apiece.
