Georgia State went 8-for-13 from the arc to build a 14-point halftime lead and limited James Madison to 31 percent shooting overall to record a 68-52 win in a Colonial Athletic Association men’s basketball game on Saturday afternoon at the GSU Sports Arena.
JMU had a four-game winning streak snapped to fall to 7-7 overall and 1-1 in the CAA. The Dukes had won six of seven with only a pair of one-point losses in its previous eight games. GSU improved to 6-9 overall and 1-1 in the CAA while snapping a five-game skid.
Freshman guard R.J. Hunter led four Panthers in double figures with 19 points and seven rebounds. Forward Manny Atkins added 15 points and eight boards. Center James Vincent tallied 10 points, eight blocks and five rebounds. Point guard Devonta White added 11 points and seven assists.
Senior forward Rayshawn Goins (Cleveland, Ohio/Glenville) had his third double-double of the season with 19 points and a career-best 16 rebounds. He is averaging 17.2 points and 9.6 rebounds over the last five games. Senior guard A.J. Davis (Columbus, Ohio/Harmony Community School) was the only other player in double figures with 10 points and eight boards.
Georgia State had more three-pointers (8) than two-point field goals (6) in the first half to take control of the game. The Panthers shot 54 percent from the floor in the first period and limited JMU to 30 percent.
Neither team gained a significant advantage in the second half as the Dukes were unable to gain ground on the Panthers while converting just two field goals in the final 10 minutes of play. The extended zone defense of GSU limited JMU to just 17 field goals on 55 tries (30.9 percent).
JMU trailed by as many as 17 points early in the second half before cutting the margin to as close as nine at 53-44 with 10:19 to go. Freshman guard Ron Curry (Pennsauken, N.J./Paul VI) had a fastbreak three-point attempt that could have cut it to six. Instead, his miss led to a GSU three-point play for a 12-point lead. The Dukes never got under 10 the rest of the way, with the only field goals after that point being two Goins layins in the final three minutes.
Georgia State rode a hot hand from the arc to build a sizeable halftime lead at 38-24. JMU was within six at 28-22 when the Panthers scored 10 of the final 12 points of the half for the lead.
Overall the Panthers hit eight of their 13 tries from the arc during the half. Hunter made all four of his attempts and had 13 points while Atkins added 12. Senior Alioune Diouf (Powder Springs, Ga./McEachern) and Davis each had six points in the half for JMU, which also got eight rebounds from Goins.
JMU will play its final non-conference game of the regular season on Monday with a 7 p.m. contest at Hampton.
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