Panthers Pull Away From Trojans After Halftime

LITTLE ROCK – Little Rock (13-15, 4-11 SBC) led for the majority of the first half but was outscored 40-24 after halftime in a 71-54 loss to Georgia State (18-10, 11-5 SBC) at the Jack Stephens Center on Saturday.

Little Rock led for 16:35 of the opening half and didn't face its first deficit until there were just over three minutes until halftime. Georgia State's 3-pointer by Jeff Thomas with 1:13 until the break gave the Panthers a 31-30 lead that they took into intermission.
 
Georgia State stayed hot, starting the second half by scoring the first six points to build a 37-30 advantage. Little Rock stayed close as Kemy Osse scored eight straight Trojan points to trim the margin to three, 41-38, with 13:55 to play.
 
Following a Georgia State miss, the Trojans pushed the ball in transition with the chance to tie or pull within a point. But an Oliver Black turnover on the play led to a made 3-pointer by Georgia State's Devin Mitchell with 12:49 remaining. Mitchell scored again on GSU's next possession and Little Rock pulled no closer than eight the rest of the night.
 
Lis Shoshi led the Trojans with 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Kemy Osse scored 11 points and made 4 of 11 shots from the floor. Jalen Jackson scored nine points off the bench.
 
In a tale of two halves, Little Rock shot 42.9 percent compared to 34.5 percent for Georgia State over the first 20 minutes. After halftime, however, Georgia State shot 53.8 percent while Little Rock shot 31.8 percent.
 
Mitchell led the Panthers with 16 points. D'Marcus Simonds scored 10 points as the only other Georgia State player in double figures.
 
The Panthers outscored Little Rock 34-16 in the paint and finished with a 42-29 advantage on the glass.
 
Little Rock hosts Georgia Southern in its home finale on Monday night. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. and the game will be carried on the American Sports Network and ESPN3.
 
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