TOWSON, Md. - Towson came from 13 points back to close to within one in the waning moments but the rally fell short as Georgia State (10-13, 5-8) hung on to hand the Tigers (4-19, 0-13) a 63-60 Colonial Athletic Assocation loss Saturday afternoon in the Towson Center.
Senior guard Marques Johnson scored on a breakaway layup off a lead pass from freshman guard Javonte Maynor with five seconds remaining to end the scoring. The Panthers, who never trailed in the game, owned a 61-60 advantage with 13 seconds left and had to inbound the ball from underneath the Tiger basket. Facing a full-court press, junior guard James Fields was able to pass the ball from the back court to Maynor near mid-court. He fed the ball to Johnson, who was streaking towards the basket. His breakaway layup gave Georgia State a 63-60 advantage.
Senior guard Josh Brown missed a long three-pointer for Towson with one second remaining as the Panthers escaped the Towson Center with their seventh win in the 13-game series with the Tigers.
"We really hurt ourselves in the first half," said Towson Coach Pat Kennedy. "One stat that a lot of people wouldn't notice is that they shot the ball 36 times and we shot it 20 times. That gave them a lot more opportunities at the basket than we had.
"So, we got in a very hole," he added. "But we did what we've done all year long - we fought back in the second half. Some of the guys who were very productive for us early in the year have fallen off but that's because opponents are playing them tougher. Every single league game is worth playing for. Right now, everyone is playing for March."
For the first 30 minutes of action, it seemed like the Panthers were on their way to a comfortable victory. Georgia State led by as many as 13 points early in the second half.
In the opening moments of the half, the Panthers extended their lead to 45-32. However, the Tigers used a 15-6 run to pull within 52-51 with 6:45 remaining on an alley oop dunk on a fast break from Dre Conner to Isaiah Philmore.
But, a slam dunk on a rebound by junior forward Brandon McGee with 6:11 remaining gave the Panthers a 54-51 advantage. When Maynor buried a three-point basket with 4:50 remaining, the Panthers owned a 57-51 edge. Junior Josh Micheaux's layup with 3:38 to play made it a 59-51 lead for Georgia State.
Trailing by 59-51 with 3:04 remaining, the Tigers had one more comeback in them. After Philmore hit two free throws to cut the lead to 59-53, he stole the inbounds pass and was fouled. When he made two more foul shots, the lead was down to 59-55.
The Tigers pulled to within 59-58 with 1:52 left when Conner nailed a three-pointer on a fast break.
For the next 1:27, the Tigers were forced to play defense as the Panthers ran down the shot clock. After Fields missed a layup, Maynor got the rebound to give Georgia State a new 35-second clock. With 40 seconds remaining, Fields missed another layup. Sophomore James Vincent grabbed the rebound and missed another layup. This time, Maynor got another rebound with 36 seconds left.
Forced to foul, the Tigers put Micheaux on the foul line with 25 seconds left. Despite a time-out by the Tigers, Micheaux made both free throws to give Georgia State a 61-58 lead. After Brown's layup made it 61-60, the Tigers called another time out to set up their press. But, the Panthers broke the press and went on to win.
The Panthers, who swept the season series from Towson, built a 37-26 halftime lead with a late run in the final minutes of the half. With Georgia State leading by 27-23 and less than three minutes to play, McGee sparked an 8-0 run over a span of 56 seconds that gave the Panthers a 35-23 advantage. With 2:55 remaining, McGee drove to the basket for a layup, was fouled and converted the free throw for a three-point play.
Only 24 seconds later, McGee repeated his success by scoring on another three-point play, upping the lead to 33-23. With 1:59 left in the half, he drove to the basket again and fed Vincent for a slam dunk that gave the Panthers a 35-23 lead.
Vincent and McGee led the Panthers by scoring ten points each in the first half. The Tigers were held to 30 per cent shooting in the first half.
In the win, Vincent led the Panthers with 12 points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots. The 6-10 center shot 6-for-10 from the floor and helped Georgia State outrebound Towson, 36-27.
McGee added 12 points for the balanced Panthers while Micheaux had nine points and five assists.
Despite shooting 45.5 per cent in the second half, the Tigers managed to hit only 38.1 per cent of their field goal attempts for the game. They were sharp at the free throw line, though, where they made 23 of 26 attempts..
Brown led the Tigers with a game high 18 points while junior guard RaShawn Polk scored 13 points. Philmore added ten points on a field goal and 8-for-8 at the charity stripe. He snagged a game high eight rebounds.
The loss was Towson's 12th consecutive defeat. The Tigers, who haven't won since Dec. 29, 2010 at LaSalle, return to action at Northeastern on Wednesday, February 9.
