MACON — A lack of toughness and the inability to stop a freshman making his first career start were the primary factors in Georgia State’s 64-60 loss to Mercer on Saturday at Hawkins Arena.
The Panthers were outrebounded 38-24, including 11 offensive rebounds, and allowed Jake Davis, a long-haired 6-foot-6 Indiana import, to score a career-high 26 points on 10-for-13 shooting with eight rebounds.
“I thought we were nowhere near the toughest team,” GSU coach Jonas Hayes said. “We got out-toughed, and we got our butts kicked on the boards. That should never happen, and it happened tonight.”
The Panthers trailed by 11 points early in the second half but kept pecking away. They got as close as one point with 6:14 remaining and took three close-range shots around the basket with 2:20 remaining. Lucas Taylor had a good look at a 3-pointer with 38 seconds remaining that would have put the Panthers ahead. The shot drew iron and was rebounded by Mercer’s Davis.
“If that goes in, the game probably opens up,” Taylor said. “I practice those shots every day. They fall sometimes, and sometimes they don’t, so I’m just going to stay at it, keep working.”
GSU was able to foul Amanze Ngumezi, a 57% free-throw shooter, but he swished both free throws for a four-point lead with 16.4 seconds remaining.
Hayes said, “I like the way we fought back and the resiliency we showed, but were just out-toughed in every aspect. To not guard a kid that had a career night was maddingly embarrassing. But it’s not the end of the world, and we will get better.”
Georgia State (4-5) was led by Taylor with 15 points and Leslie Nkereuwem with 11 points. Jay’Den Turner had a team-high eight rebounds.
Mercer (3-6) ended a three-game losing streak and avenged last season’s overtime loss to GSU in Atlanta. The Bears got 13 points from Ngumezia, 11 points and eight rebounds from Alex Holt and 10 points from Robby Carmody.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” Taylor said. “We just had to chip away, and because of the way they play, they play a bit slower, we just had to be patient, and in the second half we were able to overcome adversity.”
Mercer led most of the first half, but never by more than five points. The Bears didn’t trail after the 13:44 mark, although Georgia State stayed close and had four possessions to tie or take the lead. Mercer led 46-31 at halftime.
Mercer’s lineup took a big hit with 10:27 left in the opening half. After athletic 6-foot-5 sophomore T.J. Grant threw down a dunk coming out of a timeout, he slipped and landed awkwardly on his left elbow. Grant sat in pain on the court for several minutes and walked to the locker room after the injury was stabilized. He did not return.
Georgia State plays again Saturday at Brigham Young and has its final home non-conference game Dec. 19 against Toccoa Falls. The Panthers open Sun Belt Conference play Dec. 30 at home against Arkansas State.
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