Panthers blow big lead to lose third straight

With the score tied at 65-65, D’Marcus Simonds made a 2-point jump shot with 22 seconds left to give Georgia State the lead. The Panthers didn’t get to cheer for long, as Texas-Arlington’s Erick Neal made a 35-foot 3-pointer with one second left to give the Mavericks the 68-67 victory.

The victory keeps the Mavericks (20-6, 10-3 Sun Belt) in first place in the conference standings, while the Panthers (16-10, 9-5) lost their third consecutive and fell to fifth place.

Here are five things we learned from the game:

1. Panthers losing streak continues: Coach Ron Hunter earlier in the season talked about playing good basketball at the right time. It seems his team isn’t getting the message. They lost a third consecutive conference game, with only four games remaining.

This was the second consecutive game in which the Panthers lost on a last-second shot. On Saturday they couldn’t overcome blowing a 15-point lead.

“Back-to-back games we lost on a last-second shot,” Hunter said. “Both times it shouldn’t have even gotten to that. So, we let it get to that, so we’ve got to find a way to dig ourselves out of this. Kids are devastated, and we are devastated. Last three games, we should have won all three of them.”

2. Foul trouble dooms Panthers. Starters Jeremy Hollowell and Malik Benlevi fouled out with less than one minute to go. With both experienced starters out, sophomore Austin Donaldson was forced to enter the game. Donaldson’s first possession was a crucial turnover that led to the Mavericks tying the score at 65-65. Benlevi and Hollowell clearly were missed in the final stretch, especially on the last-second shot by Neal. The Panthers committed 18 fouls and gave up 20 free throws.

3. Turnovers are the difference-maker. When the Panthers took over with a 15-point lead, the Mavericks went up-tempo on defense, forcing 13 steals and 21 turnovers. The Mavericks made Texas State at Georgia State, 7 p.m., 1230, 1340, 88.5 the Panthers pay by scoring 24 points off the turnovers.

4. Bad offense outplays good defense. The Panthers played phenomenal defense against the Mavericks, who are averaging 77 points per game and 46 percent shooting from the field. The Panthers held the Mavericks to just 35 percent from the field. However, the offense couldn’t get it going, shooting 30 percent from the 3-point arc and 58 percent from the free-throw line.

5. Bench a bright spot. If the Panthers’ bench players hadn’t played the way they did Saturday, the game would have been a blowout. Subs provided 22 points, while the Mavericks bench scored four. Hollowell and Simonds were the only starters to score in double figures, while the Mavericks had four players in double figures.

Georgia Southern 70, Texas State 67

Tookie Brown scored 21 points and Georgia Southern held off a late Texas State run Saturday to end a twogame skid.

Trailing by 12 at halftime, the Bobcats closed to four, 59-55, on Tyler Blount’s 3-pointer, then to three, 67-64, on Kavin Gilder-Tilbury’s 3 with 24 seconds left. Bobby Conley’s 3 with six seconds left made it a onepoint game, but Brown was fouled and hit both from the line. Ojai Black’s 3-pointer at the buzzer missed.

Ike Smith added 17 for the Eagles (17-10, 10-4 Sun Belt), who outscored the Bobcats 28-18 in the paint.

Georgia Southern opened with a 12-4 run capped by Jake Allsmiller’s 3-pointer and led 24-12 after Smith’s dunk. Smith scored 12 points and the Eagles led 38-26 at halftime after shooting 60.9 percent from the floor and holding the Bobcats to 45.5 percent.

Gilder-Tilbury scored 22 with four 3-pointers for Texas State (15-10, 8-5), which saw its two-game winning streak end.