Georgia State’s defense has come to own the last few minutes of its recent games. On Saturday, on the floor of their biggest rival, the Panthers owned nearly the final eight minutes.
Coach Rob Lanier’s team did not allow Georgia Southern to score a basket and limited the Eagles to three measly free throws in the final 7:44. That tenacity allowed the Panthers to overcome an 11-point second-half deficit and come away with a 58-49 win at packed-out Hanner Fieldhouse in Statesboro. The victory gave Georgia State a sweep of the two regular-season games.
Georgia State (13-10, 7-5 Sun Belt) extended its win streak to five consecutive games, the second-longest active streak in the conference. GSU has won seven of its past eight games and is closing in on one of the top four spots that earn a first-round tournament bye.
“It speaks to the growing and developing toughness and connectedness that we’re seeing with this team,” said Lanier, whose team was in the Sun Belt cellar Jan. 22. “The challenge is always to come back and do it the next day and to keep getting better and to make the most of what little time we’ve got left as a group. I think they feel that urgency.”
The Panthers trailed by as many as 11 points in the second half and were behind 42-32 when they began to climb back into the game.
“I remember there was a timeout at around the seven-minute mark (7:27 when Georgia State trailed 46-41) where we were down, and I remember saying to the guys, ‘This would be a great way to win a game,’” Lanier said. “And we found a way to win it.”
From that point Georgia State outscored Southern 17-4. The Panthers took the lead on a 3-pointer from Justin Roberts that was part of a 9-0 run. Georgia Southern made it a two-point game with 3:45 left, but Georgia State’s Kane Williams pushed the lead to five with a 3-pointer, and the Panthers were 5-for-6 from the line in the final 1:10 to close it out.
Roberts led the team with 14 points, and Eliel Nsoseme added 10 points and seven rebounds. Williams scored nine with four rebounds, six assists and two steals. The Panthers blocked nine shots, with Ja’Heim Hudson swatting four and Jalen Thomas getting three.
Georgia Southern (11-14, 4-10) has lost five in a row. The Eagles were led by Andrei Savrasov who scored 17 of his 21 points in the first half. He was 7-for-8 from the field, including 3-for-3 from distance in the first half, but was 1-for-5 in the second half.
“The overall level of urgency ramped up, and we just did a better job,” Lanier said. “He’s a good player, and he’s really strong. He had a great first half, and fortunately we were able to slow him down.”
Georgia Southern had a much better first half than it did on Thursday night at home against Georgia Southern. The Eagles shot 43%, held Georgia State to 30% from the field, and outrebounded the Panthers 20-16, which led to a 28-21 halftime lead. It was the fewest first-half points scored in a conference game by Georgia State this season.
Georgia State finishes the regular season with two home games next week against Louisiana-Monroe on Wednesday and Louisiana-Lafayette on Friday, the final contests at the GSU Sports Arena. The school will start the 2022-23 season at the new Convocation Center.
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