Hunter’s 29 Leads Georgia State men’s basketball to 83-78 Victory Over Oakland

Release from Georgia State Athletics:

R.J. Hunter scored 29 points and Georgia State shot 63 percent to earn an 83-78 victory over Oakland on Wednesday night in the final game of the CBE Hall of Fame Classic.

Georgia State’s shooting performance was tied for the eighth-best mark in school history. The Panthesr also shot 11-of-17 from 3-point range (64.7 percent), tied for the fourth-best mark in school history.

Hunter finished 9-of-14 from the floor and 6-of-9 from 3-point range, going a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line. He added five rebounds, three assists and three steals in the win.

Georgia State (4-2) won for the third straight time as junior Markus Crider added a career-high 17 points and pulled down six rebounds. It was the second straight night Crider scored a career high.

Senior Ryan Harrow recorded a double-double with 14 points and 11 assists, but it was Kevin Ware who came off the bench for the first time this season who might have had the most impressive performance.

“Kevin easily played his best game of the season,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “He came off the bench and was able to get a feel of what was happening on the court. He came up with some huge stops and shot lights-out.”

Ware finished with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting, knocking down 3-of-4 3-pointers and grabbing six rebounds. He added two steals, both of which game in the final four minutes to help the Panthers secure the victory.

“I am also really proud of the way Markus Crider is playing right now,” Hunter said. “He is stepping up and giving us another scorer and the inside presence that we need. He left everything on the court for us tonight.”

Hunter opened the game by knocking down a quick pair of 3-pointers to give Georgia State an early 6-0 lead as the junior moved ahead of Leonard Mendez into seventh on the Panthers’ all-time scoring list. His 3-pointer with 2:37 to play in the first half tied him with Phillip Luckydo for sixth before moving ahead of him early in the second half.

He is now just 15 points shy of moving into the Panthers top-5 in scoring. He finished the first half 7-of-9 from the floor and 5-of-6 from 3-point range.

Tied at 15-15 with 11:53 to play in the first half, Georgia State went on a 9-0 run to build a 24-15 lead with just under 10 minutes to play as Harrow scored five points during the run.

The Panthers, who never trailed in the game, led by as many as 11 with 2:05 to play in the opening half.

Georgia State built its lead to as many as 13 with 14:19 to play in the game as the Panthers shot 57.1 percent from the floor after the break.

The Panthers opened the game shooting an impressive 68 percent from the floor in the first half and were 6-of-8 from 3-point range.

Oakland (1-5) was led by Max Hooper’s 21 points. Hooper hit seven 3-pointers as Oakland knocked down 13 from beyond the arc.

Kahlil Felder added 18 points for the Golden Grizzlies, while Corey Petros recorded a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds.