Georgia State pulls away from Texas State in 67-51 win (Feb 20, 2017)
ATLANTA (AP) D'Marcus Simonds scored 18 points, Jeremy Hollowell added 16 more and hot-shooting Georgia State snapped a three-game skid with a 67-51 win over Texas State on Monday night.
Devin Mitchell contributed 14 points, including three 3-pointers, for the Panthers, who pulled away in the second half behind 69.2-percent shooting and finished 27 of 48 (56 percent) from the field overall.
Georgia State (17-10, 10-5 Sun Belt Conference) broke it open in the second half with a 15-3 run capped with back-to-back 3-pointers from Mitchell to make it 51-37 with about 10 minutes to play.
Texas State quickly cut the deficit back to eight with three consecutive buckets but Malik Benlevi dropped in a layup at the other end to spark a 7-0 spurt that stretched the lead to 58-43 and the Panthers led by double figures the rest of the way.
Nijal Pearson led Texas State (15-11, 8-6) with 17 points, Kavin Gilder-Tilbury had 12 and Ojai Black 10.
The Bobcats fell 1 1/2 games behind Georgia State, which is tied with Georgia Southern for third, in the conference standings. The top four teams earn a first-round bye in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
