By E. Marcel Pourtout, Editor

Despite a double-double from Markus Crider and 22 points from Jeremy Hollowell, Georgia State fell to Troy 54-53 on Saturday afternoon at Trojan Arena.

Georgia State (13-10, 6-8 Sun Belt) led by four, 53-49, with under a minute to play, but a 3-pointer by Troy’s Wesley Person and a lay-up by John Walton III secured the win as a pair of last second shots did not fall for the Panthers.

It marked the second-straight one-point loss for the Panthers who have now lost six of the last seven games.

Crider recorded his first double-double of the season with 13 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. The senior had one last shot attempt that didn’t fall at the buzzer. Hollowell scored 22 points for the second-straight game and grabbed five rebounds.

Troy (8-17, 3-11 Sun Belt) was led by Walton III who finished with 16 points and eight rebounds, while Person added 14 points, knocking down 4-of-7 from 3-point range.

“This is a tough one to swallow,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “We made a couple of nice plays down the stretch, but then allowed them to knock down shots on back-to-back possessions. This has been a tough road trip with back-to-back one-point losses, but this team has shown the ability to bounce back all season and we will get after it again next week.”

Tied 7-7, Georgia State took an early 13-7 lead has Hollowell scored the Panthers first five points of the game.

Troy’s defense stepped up, holding the Panthers without a field goal for eight minutes before a Hollowell lay-up with 4:28 to play. During the run, the Trojans could not build a lead bigger than three points as the Panthers knocked down four free throws.

Georgia State went into the locker room trailing 24-23 after shooting just 31.0 percent, but holding Troy to 28.0 percent. The Panthers turned 10 Troy turnovers into nine points in the opening 20 minutes.

Trailing by one early in the second half, Troy responded with a 9-0 run capped by back-to-back 3-pointers to take a 33-25 lead with 17:35to play.

A Hollowell 3-pointer with 14:15 to play cut Troy’s lead to 38-35 with 14:15 to play.

Trailing 48-43 with 8:50 to play, Georgia State held Troy without a field goal for more than five minutes as Georgia State took a 50-49 lead following a 3-point by Isaiah Williams with 3:00 to play. Crider added a basket and a free throw to give the Panthers a four point lead with 2:26 remaining in the game.

Crider played in his 122^nd game, tying him with Trae Golston for third on the school’s all-time list.

Freshman Austin Donaldson played a career-high 20 minutes, swiping five steals and grabbing three rebounds.

Neither team shot well from the floor as the Panthers finished at 34.5 percent with Troy shooting just a bit better at 37.8 percent. Despite forcing 17 turnovers, Georgia State went just 13-of-22 from the free throw line.

Release from Georgia Tech Athletics:

Georgia Tech’s Adam Gotsis and D.J. White have been invited to participate in the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine, which will be held Feb. 23-29 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

The two defensive players will be among more than 300 players to receive an invite. Much of the action from the six-day combine will be broadcast on NFL Network. The defensive linemen are scheduled to work out on Sunday, Feb. 28, while the defensive backs are slotted for Monday, Feb. 29.

Gotsis started the first nine games of the season at defensive tackle before suffering a season-ending injury on the first play from scrimmage at Virginia. The Abbotsford, Australia, native was named honorable mention All-ACC by the ACSMA in 2015. He finished off his senior season with 31 tackles, including five tackles for loss, a team-high three sacks and two fumble recoveries.  He was voted captain by his teammates and had started 37 consecutive games before the injury. He finished his Georgia Tech career with 110 tackles, including 69 solo, 27.5 for loss and 12.5 sacks, and two interceptions.

White, also a 2015 captain, finished sixth on the team this season with 41 tackles, including 36 solo. The cornerback recorded two interceptions and led the Yellow Jackets with eight pass break-ups while starting in 11 games. White, who hails from McDonough, Ga., finished his career with 162 tackles, five forced fumbles and seven interceptions. He was invited to the East-West Shrine game, but couldn’t play due to injury.

Release from Georgia Tech Athletics:

Senior Trey Braun and freshman Marcus Marshall were selected to the 2015 All-ACC Academic Football Team, as the 53-member team was announced today by conference commissioner John Swofford.

Braun, a senior that earned his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech in December 2014, was an honorable mention All-ACC selection this season. The Tallahassee, Fla., native started in all 12 games in 2015 at left guard and finished his career with 34 consecutive starts.

Marshall had a strong season as a true freshman by leading the Yellow Jackets with 654 yards rushing and four touchdowns. The Raleigh, N.C., native played in 11 games and made three starts at B-back. He is an undeclared major in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

To be eligible for consideration for the team, a student-athlete must have earned a 3.00 grade point average for the previous semester and maintained a 3.00 cumulative average during his undergraduate academic career. Graduate students needed to maintain at least a 3.5 grade point average for both the previous semester and for their graduate school careers.

The team was chosen from a pool of 140 ACC football student-athletes who were nominated by their schools.

In eight years under head coach Paul Johnson, the Yellow Jackets have produced 27 All-ACC Academic members. Georgia Tech has been represented on the All-ACC Academic Football Team for 18 consecutive years.