Eliel Nsoseme is not a great free throw shooter. There’s no hiding his 59.7% success rate from the line this season. But Saturday night, when points were at a premium, the 6-foot-9 junior was there when it counted most.
Nsoseme made three of four attempts in the final two minutes to help push Georgia State past the finish line and beat determined Arkansas State 71-68 in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in Pensacola, Fla.
Georgia State (15-5), winner of seven straight, will play Louisiana (17-8) on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. in the semifinal The Ragin’ Cajuns beat South Alabama 79-68 in their quarterfinal game.
Nsoseme had made only 1 of 6 when he was fouled with 1:32 left and calmly knocked down two attempts to tie the score 68-68. Thirty-two seconds later he was fouled after rebounding a missed shot and made the front end of a one-and-one to give the Panthers the lead they would not relinquish.
“When he went to the line, I knew he was going to make them,” coach Rob Lanier said. “He’s a special kid. I know how bad he wants to win. I don’t care if he’d missed 10 free throws before that, I was confident he was going to make those and he did. It made a big difference.”
Freshman Evan Johnson made two free throws with 28.7 seconds remaining to give Georgia State a three-point lead, then missed two free throws that would have iced it with 15 seconds left. But the Panthers held on after Malcolm Fairington missed a 3-pointer with seconds left that would have tied the game.
Georgia State finished with a 7-0 run over the final 1:57 and Arkansas State failed to score over the final 3:11, as the Panthers flashed the sort of defense that Lanier preaches.
“We found a way,” he said. “It’s not like we defended them great throughout the game. Down the stretch we got some stops, got some of those 50-50 balls that had been going to them. It was key for us to get some stops down the stretch and that was the difference.”
Nsoseme finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Georgia State got 17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists from Justin Roberts, 15 points from Corey Allen, 11 points from Johnson and 10 points from Jalen Thomas.
Arkansas State (10-13) was led by freshman Norchad Omier with 16 points and 18 rebounds, and Marquis Eaton had 16 points and eight assists.
Georgia State got in foul trouble early in the first half, and Arkansas State took advantage, building a 32-19 lead on Markise Davis’ 3-pointer with 6:37. That seemed to enliven the Panthers, who closed the half on a 15-1 run – the final two buckets from Nsoseme in the paint -- to take a 34-33 lead.
The Panthers carried the momentum over to the second half and built a five-point lead on Ryan Boyce’s layup with 14:49. But Arkansas State answered with a 10-2 run to reclaim the lead at 51-48 with 11:33 remaining.
Arkansas State led by four when Fairington made a 3-pointer, but Georgia State got a couple of stops and evened the score at 68 on a layup by Allen and two free throws by Nsoseme with 1:32 remaining.
“We didn’t have the energy level we’ve had,” Lanier said. “We were down four and I wanted those guys to embrace the moment. If we’re going to go where we’re trying to go, you want to win those kind of games.”
Lanier didn’t like the energy the Panthers brought on Saturday. He suggested his team may have incorrectly expected an easy win.
“There aren’t going to be any knockouts. These are all going to be 12-round fights and they’re going to go to the scorecard,” Lanier said. “No matter what you think you are, you’re going to have to have the right attitude. You have to play the game.”
The semifinal game can been seen on ESPN-Plus and may be heard locally on WRAS-FM 88.5.
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