Georgia State men’s basketball wins exhibition contest over Georgia College

Release from Georgia State Athletics:

ATLANTA-Senior Ryan Harrow scored 27 points to lead Georgia State to an 83-61 exhibition win over Georgia College on Mondaynight in the GSU Sports Arena. It marked the first of two exhibition games for the Panthers before the regular season opener on Nov. 14.

Harrow finished 12 of 14 from the floor with four rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals in 32 minutes of action. He scored 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting in the first half.

Sun Belt Preseason Player of the Year R.J. Hunter added 17 points on 7-of-16 shooting, pulling down seven rebounds and dishing out five assists in the win.

“It was good to get some of the jitters out tonight,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “It was kind of typical of most exhibition games I have been a part of. We did some good things tonight, but we also saw the areas that we need to work on. Every team is going to give us their best shot this year and that is something that we need to be prepared for when we step on the court.”

Senior Ryann Green added 12 points, three rebounds, three steals and three assists in 22 minutes off the bench.

“Ryann adds a different dimension to our team,” Hunter said. “He plays so hard on the court that he literally wears himself out. He gave us the energy and effort we needed to win tonight.”

Georgia College opened the game taking a quick 8-2 lead before the Panthers responded with a 24-0 run to take a 26-8 lead with11:25 to play. Georgia State made 10 straight field goals over a stretch of 6:42 before the Bobcats made a 3-pointer with 10:12 to play in the opening half.

Georgia College cut the deficit to seven, 34-27, with 1:51 to play following a 7-0 run, the closest the Bobcats would get the rest of the game. The Panthers entered the half leading 40-27.

In the second half, the Bobcats got as close as eight, 40-32, with 18:21 to play before the Panthers pushed the lead to as many as 24 with just over 10 minutes remaining.

Kevin Ware, making his Georgia State debut, scored six points while dishing out a team high seven assists and pulling down six rebounds.

Evyn Smith led Georgia College with 12 points, while Jeremiah Vrudny, Terrell Harris and Dwight Anderson each scored 10 points for the Bobcats.

Georgia State forced 25 turnovers in the game on 15 steals which led to 28 points. The Panthers outscored the Bobcats 54-24 in the paint.

The Panthers went 15-of-18 from the line and finished the game shooting 50.8 percent.