Georgia State rallied from an 11-point deficit in the second half but came up just short in a 64-60 loss to at Mercer Saturday at Hawkins Arena.
Lucas Taylor led the Panthers (4-5) with 15 points, while Leslie Nkereuwem added 11, and Jay’Den Turner grabbed eight rebounds along with five points.
After trailing 36-31 at the half, the Panthers fell behind 51-40 with 14 minutes to play before the Panthers began to chip away. A 3-point play by Dwon Odom made it 55-49 with 10:36 to go, and a steal and dunk by Julian Mackey cut the deficit to 57-54 with 9:11 left.
Brenden Tucker’s fast break layup and ensuing free throw pulled the Panthers within 62-60 with 4:32 to play. Down the stretch, the Panthers had several shots around the basket to tie the game that wouldn’t fall, and with 38 seconds left, Taylor had a good look from 3-point range for the lead.
Forced to foul, Georgia State managed to put 50-percent free throw shooter Amanze Ngumezi at the line with 16 seconds left, but he sank them both to seal the win.
“We missed some bunnies from close around the rim at the end of the game that normally would go in, but I’m more thinking about why we were in that situation,” head coach Jonas Hayes said. “Offensively, we’ll be fine, but have got to find some toughness and some conviction on the defensive end.”
“I do like the fact that we found a way to fight back, but we were just out-toughed today.
“This team is still growing, and we’ll get better,” Hayes continued.
Jake Davis led Mercer (3-6) with 26 points.
Georgia State plays another road game next Saturday, Dec. 16 at nationally-ranked BYU at 9 p.m. in Provo, Utah. The Panthers’ next home game is Monday, Dec. 19 vs. Toccoa Falls in an 11 a.m. tipoff at the GSU Convocation Center.
Source: Georgia State Sports
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