Big guys continue to be big problems for Georgia State.
On Saturday it was 6-foot-7 Kevin Easley, who scored a career-high 28 points and helped Coastal Carolina erase a 13-point second-half deficit and defeat Georgia State 85-83 in overtime at the HTC Center in Conway, South Carolina.
“It was a tale of two halves,” Georgia State coach Jonas Hayes said. “Being disappointed is a huge understatement.”
It was the fourth consecutive loss – all on the road – for the Panthers, who fell to 9-11 overall and 4-5 in the Sun Belt, and ruined a superb effort by guard Dwon Odom. The Alpharetta product scored a career-high 30 points, going 12-for-18 from the floor, with three rebounds, three assists, one steal and one blocked shot.
Lucas Taylor scored 14 points with six rebounds, Toneari Lane had 13 points, and Brenden Tucker came off the bench to score 11 for Georgia State. But the Panthers were a disappointing 16-for-23 (69.6%) at the line; they lead the Sun Belt at 75.9%.
But Coastal Carolina’s inside presence was too much. The Chanticleers, who had averaged 31.6 points in the paint over the past six games, came up with 44 – their most against Sun Belt competition. Easley, who made stops at Duquesne, TCU and Chattanooga before landing at Coastal Carolina, had 12 rebounds, five of them on the offensive glass. John Ojiako, a 6-foot-10 senior transfer from Virginia Tech and George Mason, had 15 rebounds, four of them offensive, and freshman guard Jacob Meyer had 10 rebounds.
“Size was a factor, free-throw shooting was a factor … it was just a disappointing half,” Hayes said. “It all goes back to the defensive end. Our effort consistently was not there again. We’ll go back to the drawing board and keep trying to figure that out. There’s a lot of season left.”
Georgia State led by 13 when Lane made a runner to make the score 55-42 at 12:06. But Coastal Carolina began to close the gap thanks to Easley and Ojiako and tied the score with 18.3 seconds remaining when Braeden MacVicar was fouled shooting a 3-pointer and made three free throws to tie the score at 73-73.
“That was unfortunate, but we shouldn’t have been in that situation,” Hayes said.
Georgia State had a chance to win, but Odom’s layup with three seconds did not fall.
The Chanticleers led by four points early in overtime, and Georgia State never caught up. The Panthers trailed by three with 12 seconds left, and Odom drove to the basket, hoping to draw a foul. His shot dropped and he fell to the floor, but no foul was called with 2.1 seconds remaining.
Coastal Carolina (6-14, 3-6) had three players with double-doubles – Easley with 28 points and 12 rebounds, Meyer with 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Ojiako with 10 points and 15 rebounds. Ian Granja scored 14, all in the second half, and MacVicar scored 12. The Chants got only two points from their bench.
The Panthers had an air-clearing team meeting after Wednesday’s 77-68 loss at Marshall. They showed up with a focus and intensity that was missing the past two games, and it showed in the first half.
Sparked by back-to-back 3-pointers by Lane, Georgia State used a 13-4 stretch late in the first half and led 39-29 at halftime. Tucker scored the final eight points of the half for GSU, including one at the buzzer.
Georgia State returns home Thursday to play conference-leading Appalachian State. The Mountaineers defeated the Panthers 76-68 in Boone, North Carolina, on Jan. 17.
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