Photo credit: Georgia State Athletics
Release from Georgia State Athletics:
Led by 27 points from R.J. Hunter, Georgia State earned an 85-70 win over Western Carolina on Tuesday at the Athletics Center O’rena in CBE Hall of Fame Classic.
Tied 64-64 with 6:19 to play, Georgia State finished the game on a 21-6 run to secure the victory, leading by as many as 16 with1:43 to play.
Hunter moved ahead of Kevin Morris, Zavian Smith and Nate Williams into eighth-place on Georgia State’s all-time scoring list and now has 1,235 points in two-plus seasons, just three points behind Leonard Mendez for seventh.
Junior Markus Crider just missed a double-double with a career-high 15 points and nine rebounds, while senior Ryan Harrow added 21 points and seven assists. Junior T.J. Shipes came off the bench to add eight points and tie a career-high with eight rebounds as the Panthers’ big men combined for 27 points and 19 boards.
Georgia State (3-2) won for the second straight night by outrebounding the Catamounts, 36-27, pulling down 18 rebounds on the offensive glass.
Western Carolina dropped to 2-3 despite going 18-of-25 from the free throw line, making the first 10 attempted.
“When we entered Kevin Ware back into the game with about six minutes to play, it changed the game defensively,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “That was a really good test for us. Western Carolina has a very good team and that will prove to be a good victory at the end of the season.
“I was really impressed with the play of Markus Crider tonight. He gave us the type of energy and production we need from our big men. As I have said, it is going to be a different big guy every night that gives us that type of production. When they do, we can be a really good team.”
After Ware made the opening basket for Georgia State, Panther big men score the next 14 points as GSU took a 16-12 win seven minutes into the game.
Trailing 23-16 with 9:05 to play in the first half, Western Carolina responded with a 9-0 run to take a 25-23 lead before a Shipes’ putback tied the game at 25-25.
Georgia State held the Catamounts without a field goal for the final five minutes of the first half to go into the break with a 39-35 lead.
The second half was much of the same as the teams traded leads four times with another three ties.
Neither team led by more than four points for the first eight minutes of the second half.
Following a dunk by Crider put the Panthers ahead 58-52, the Catamounts responded with a 12-4 run to tie the game at 64 before the Panthers final run.
Rhett Harrelson led Western Carolina with 21 points, while Torrion Brummitt added 15 points and eight rebounds. James Sinclair (14 points) and Mike Brown (11 points) also scored in double figures for WCU.
Georgia State finished the game with nine steals and forced 13 turnovers which the Panthers turned into 22 points. GSU outscored Western Carolina 42-20 in the paint and finished with 22 second chance points.
Freshman Carter Cagle ended the game knocking down his first career 3-pointer.
The Sports Inquirer 
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