From the CBI to NCAA Tourney Win for Hunter

Hunter after son RJ buries three pointer (courtesy of TBS)

Thursday, as I watched Georgia State Coach Ron Hunter literally fall off his chair, after his son R.J. hit a three pointer to give the Panthers a 57-56 win over Baylor, I couldn't help but smile.  This is one of the few men's college basketball coaches that I got a chance to talk to outside a press conference (Mo Cassara, former Hofstra coach and friend is another) and came away so impressed.  I couldn't help but root for him.

My first recollection of Hunter was back when he was coaching IUPUI against Hofstra in a CBI game in 2010.  This is a game where 953 people, including myself, attended a "college basketball tournament game".   You could see the game mattered to only a very few and certainly not to Hofstra, who lost 74-60 in what I considered one of their poorest efforts of that season.

But the Jaguars played as if it was the NCAA Tournament.  IUPUI was aggressive in their play,  jumping out to a 21-2 lead and they never looked back.  Judging by Hunter's demeanor on the sideline, they better have gone out to an early lead.  Hunter was intense, demanding excellence of his players every second they were on the court, even when they were up nineteen.  I was worried the man would have a heart attack right on the floor.

That night, I only stayed till halftime, as I was heading to Stony Brook to see the Seawolves take on Illinois in a real college basketball tournament game, a NIT game.  But Hunter left an indelible mark on me.  And I would get the chance to see him and his teams again, in fact several times.

Hunter had a long history with IUPUI.  He started heading coach in 1995, when the school was still in the NAIA.  Then eventually the Jaguars joined the NCAA and eventually a D1 school playing in the Summit League.

In 2011, Hunter accepted the position as head coach of Georgia State.  Now it meant their former CBI rival, Hofstra, would play Hunter at least once, possibly twice a season, depending on how the CAA regular season schedule would work out.

Hunter's first season with Georgia State in 2011-12 was impressive one.  He took basically the same team that was 12-19 the season before, predicted to finish again at the bottom of the conference and turned them into an imposing force.   They won eleven CAA regular season conference games that season, including a dominant 59-43 win over Hofstra on the Pride's home court.

It was how they won that game against Hofstra that was so impressive.  Using his team's height, Hunter had them play a match-up zone and they challenged every Pride shot that night.   The Panthers that season were first in the Colonial in field goal percentage defense, second in scoring defense, first in blocked shots and second in steals and turnover margin.

But it was something that Hunter said right before the Hofstra game that week that will always stick out in my mind,  Earlier that week, Georgia State struggled to win a game over then hapless Towson.   Right after the game, Hunter tweeted "I love my basketball team, but tomorrow, practice will be epic. Bring your lunch pail."

And sure enough, Georgia State brought their lunch pail against Hofstra too.

The Panthers kept that momentum going in the CAA Tournament, where as the sixth seed, they once again took on the Pride in the first round of the CAA Tournament.   In my ninth year of the CAA Tournament, it was my first and only CAA Tournament where I sat on press row as a member of the press, as I sat next to my dear friend Jerry Beach, aka Defiantly Dutch.  And we watched Georgia State use a 24-4 first half run to absolutely dismantle Hofstra 85-40 in what was the biggest margin of victory in the history of the CAA Tournament.

Ron Hunter & Jerry Beach (Courtesy of Defiantly Dutch)

And in the post game press conference, Dutch and I found out why.  The night before was the CAA Awards Banquet, many people thought, including yours truly that Hunter deserved the CAA Coach of the Year award for taking basically the same team that won six conference games the year before and nearly doubled that.  But Bruiser Flint, whose team was favored to win the CAA in the preseason, won the award.  Also Eric Buckner, the dominant shot blocker for Georgia State was denied the CAA Defensive Player of the Year.

Hunter at the press conference was angry and defiant.  He said his team played with a "chip on its shoulder".  He felt as if they had been not given the respect they deserved at the CAA Awards Banquet.   So Hunter channeled his team's anger into what I thought was the most dominant performance I ever saw in my nine years of covering the CAA Tournament.

Then came the next day, the day of heartbreak and missed free throws.  Georgia State came out in the same dominant fashion they had against Hofstra, and went up 22-11 early on George Mason.  Thanks in part to the Panthers missing many opportunities at the charity stripe, the Patriots responded and took the lead in the second half.   The Panthers rallied late to tie the game at 59 all.   But Byron Allen hit a reverse layup with 3.4 seconds left to send the Patriots the 61-59 victory and a trip to the CAA semifinal against VCU.

What I remember more than Allen's winning circus shot, was the post game press conference by Hunter.   As he was holding back tears, Hunter struggled to speak.  When he did, he passionately spoke about their "achilles heel", the missed free throws, and how he never saw a more hungry team in his years of coaching.   He wanted to have his team play one more game, since six of his players were seniors.

After the press conference, Dutch and I met Hunter right under the stands near the entrance to the lower bowl of the Richmond Coliseum.  Dutch and I shook hands with Coach Hunter.  He hoped his team would make the CBI or CIT because with twenty one wins they deserved that opportunity (they did make the CIT, winning one game before being eliminated).   Coach Hunter was very cordial and even got a laugh when we reminded him about his former IUPUI team beating up on Hofstra in the CBI in 2010.  He said "You remember that?!' as if no one would probably remember a game where 953 people showed up.

Courtesy of Defiantly Dutch

One season later, Hunter showed he had a sense of humor.   Georgia State was leaving the CAA after the season for the Sun Belt.  Hunter noted to former CAA Hoops pundit, now VCU radio analyst Mike Litos that " This is my farewell tour in the CAA,  How many guys in any league coach one year and get a farewell tour? I want gifts every place I go. I’ll tell them—get me a gift or I’ll take it out on them on the floor.”

Sure enough, someone met that challenge.  One Defiantly Dutch, Mr. Jerry Beach.  Dutch presented Hunter with the "Meritorious Service" plaque after Hofstra defeated Georgia State in the last few seconds. Dutch noted that "Hunter was a great sport during the 'awards ceremony'...Hunter seemed quite amused that someone remembered his throwaway quote. Or maybe amused is a synonym for frightened, I don’t know."

Hunter is also known for his "humanitarian efforts, partnering with Samaritan’s Feet, an organization that collects shoes for underprivileged children around the world."

Hunter's Georgia State team in 2013-14 went 17-1 in conference before a stunning overtime loss in the Sun Belt Tournament final.   This season, the Panthers got the job done, going 15-5 in conference, 25-9 overall, winning the Sun Belt Tournament and thus the automatic NCAA berth.   Hunter's team features his son RJ, former Kentucky Wildcat Ryan Harrow and former Louisville Cardinal Kevin Ware.

It is also Hunter's first NCAA Tournament as a head coach.  He was a member of three Miami of Ohio NCAA Tournament teams as a player, where one of his teammates was eventual longtime NBA player Ron Harper, who was also a high school teammate.

And here was Georgia State holding its own with Baylor.  Then came RJ's three point shot from long range at the top of the key to cap a 13-0 run to end the game.

Dead solid perfect as it crashed through the net.

And then came his dad, Coach Hunter, crashing down from his chair onto the court.

Georgia State won its second ever tournament game in just their third tournament appearance.  Ron Hunter had just won a NCAA Tournament game in front of twelve thousand plus fans, a far cry from his "first postseason win" as a head coach in front of 953 people.

I think a lot of people will always remember that.

Missed Free Throws and Heartbreak in Richmond (Recap of Georgia State vs. George Mason CAA Quarterfinal)

In the last game of the first round on Friday night, Georgia State absolutely hammered Hofstra in the largest margin of victory ever in the CAA Tournament.  Having witnessed the carnage in person, I honestly thought the Panthers were just at the beginning of making a serious statement in the CAA Tournament.

During the season, Georgia State had struggled from the free throw line.  But in their first round game vs. Hofstra, they shot twenty of twenty four from the charity stripe, which was much better than their season average of sixty five percent.  Even during the first round post game press conference, Coach Ron Hunter joked about how well they shot their free throws Friday night.

So when they took the court for their quarterfinal game against #3 seed George Mason,  Georgia State was looking to take it to the Patriots, a team they barely lost to in Fairfax, Virginia.  With the large contingent of Mason fans at the Richmond Coliseum, it probably seemed to the Panthers like they were playing in Fairfax again.

The teams played evenly for the first few minutes.  Then Georgia State's half court trap defense started forcing turnovers on George Mason.  The Panthers went on a 13-2 run and went up 22-11 with about nine and half minutes left in the first half.  Georgia State was playing as well as they did against Hofstra.

But Mason would respond.  They chipped away at the lead, scoring in the paint, while holding the Panthers to one of ten from the field over a seven minute span.   After Ryan Pearson hit a layup, the Patriots were only down three 28-25.  But Georgia State hit a tip in and the Panthers went up 30-25 at the half.



One of the best things about watching a tournament game involving George Mason is their absolutely terrific pep band.  Their band leader, the energetic and very cool looking Doc Nix leads them in some terrific numbers.  "Kashmir" is played with a violin lead that Jimmy Page would be proud to hear.  And as much as I am not a Bonjovi fan, the band's version of "Living on a Prayer" is awesome.

At the start of the second half, Georgia State had multiple chances to extend their lead.  But they couldn't take advantage of the free throw line.  In the first ten minutes, Josh Micheaux missed three free throws.  Eric Buckner and James Fields also each missed a free throw during this time.  Their old "achilles heel" as Ron Hunter would later say in the post game news conference had come back to haunt them.

As a result, George Mason inched their way back into the game.  They tied the game at forty. Then, they took the lead, 44-43, for the first time since six minutes into the first half.  The Patriots would eventually extend the lead to six, 52-46 on a resounding dunk by Sherrod Wright with a little less than seven and a half minutes remaining.

But there were storm clouds for the Patriots.   Pearson, the CAA Player of the Year, picked up his fourth foul and Morrison shortly thereafter picked up his fourth.   As a result, Georgia State chipped away and had a chance to tie the game with two free throws with a little under three and a half minutes left.  But Buckner again missed a free throw and the Panthers were still down one, 56-55.

After Andre Cornelius buried a three to extend Mason's lead to four, Buckner again had a chance to cut the lead.  But he missed the first attempt on an one and the bonus free throw attempt.  The lead was still 59-55.
However, Mason's luck was about to change.  Pearson picked up his fifth foul and shortly thereafter, so did Morrison.  The Patriots were without their two starting big men.  All that was left was for Georgia State to capitalize.

The Panthers did, scoring the next four points off of turnovers.  James Fields' steal off of the Patriots' Paris Bennett tied the game at fifty nine with thirty three seconds left.  Mason would get the ball with the shot clock turned off.

Paul Hewitt called timeout with eighteen seconds left in the game.  The ball was inbounded to Byron Allen, a sophomore point guard.  He dribbled around then drove the lane.  Buckner, the best shot blocker in the CAA went to block  Allen's shot.  But Allen went underneath the hoop and Buckner avoided him, trying not to pick up the foul.   Allen put up a reverse layup attempt and the ball bounced high off the glass and in.

Cue crowd eruption.  For some reason, I decided to record the last play and I posted the above video. There was 3.4 seconds left on the clock and in Georgia State's season.

After two timeouts, the Panthers desperation three missed and George Mason had a thrilling 61-59 win.  The Patriots made a perfect sweep for the higher quarterfinal seeds on the day for the CAA Tournament for the second year in a row.

During the post game conference, Coach Hunter could barely speak, tears welled in his eyes.  He was so proud of his team's effort.  He spoke about the missed free throws, their "achilles heel".  The Panthers had eighteen more free throw attempts than the Patriots, but only hit on ten more free throws.

Coach Hunter spoke so intensely about his team's heart, how he never saw a more hungry team in his years of coaching.   He wanted to have his team play one more game, since six of his players are seniors.   You could tell that the Georgia State players and their coach left their heart on the court.

Afterwards, my friend Jerry Beach, aka Defiantly Dutch and I went over and shook hands with Coach Hunter.   He hoped his team would make the CBI or CIT because with twenty one wins they deserved that opportunity.   Coach Hunter was very cordial and even got a laugh when we reminded him about his former IUPUI team beating up on Hofstra in the CBI in 2010.  He said "You remember that?' as if no one would probably remember a game where 953 people showed up.

He said "Thank you for the support", and went off.  After watching his team the last two days and the post game conferences in which he spoke so honestly and passionately, I have a very profound respect for Coach Hunter.  I could see why his team bought into him in his first season of coaching the Panthers.

Part of me wishes his team had one more game to play today.

Panthers Make a Statement at the Expense of the Pride (Recap of Hofstra vs. Georgia State)

I always love this time of year.  March Madness has been embedded in my soul for easily over twenty five years.  My favorite part of March Madness is going to a conference tournament.  In my younger college days and mid twenties, I went to the Big East Tournament.  Now, it's the CAA Tournament that is near and dear to me.  With the exception of 2009, I have been attending the Colonial Athletic Association conference tournament since 2003.

At about 2:00 AM yesterday morning, my good friend Jerry Beach, aka Defiantly Dutch, and I made the familiar drive down to Richmond, Virginia for what would be my ninth CAA Tournament.  The reason we left at 2:00 AM, is based on my experience, you want to avoid getting caught in the Washington D.C. traffic.

Dutch and I talked about music, Hofstra basketball and life in general.  I am glad he was able to go to the CAA Tournament as well.  I was especially grateful that he was John Candy to my Steve Martin. His good natured company and his sense of humor kept me awake on the early morning drive.  We made really great time and outside of a brief stop for cheap Jersey gas, we got to the outskirts of Richmond by 8:00 AM.  Dutch and I stopped at an Aunt Sarah's Pancake House for breakfast.

After breakfast, I dropped off Dutch in downtown Richmond at the Hilton Garden Inn as he was staying with a friend.  Afterwards, I took a nap in the hotel lobby, then made my way back to my car.  Then I took a short drive to a parking garage across the street from the Richmond Coliseum.

This year's CAA Tournament was going to be special for me.  It was the first time that I would have ever have media credentials for the tournament.  For the previous six years, I had covered the CAA Tournament from sitting in my seats in the Richmond Coliseum, taking the perspective of a fan.  This time I decided to sit on press row and thanks to the good folks at CAA Sports, who follow my blog and follow me on Twitter, I received media credentials.

So I entered the media entrance for the Richmond Coliseum and picked up my credentials for my site, CollegeHardwood.com.   Rob Washburn, my contact at CAASports, greeted me inside the arena and showed me where my seat was on press row.  Sure enough, my seat was next to Defiantly Dutch's seat.  The CAA knows the #CAAHoops Twitter and blogosphere all too well.

The CAA Tournament consists of four days.  The first round, otherwise known by Chris "VCUPav" Crowley as "Pillow Fight Friday", begins on Friday with four games, where seeds five through twelve play each other.   There is an afternoon session of two games; eight plays nine, then five plays twelve.  In the evening, seven plays ten and six plays eleven.

Hofstra, seeded eleventh, was playing Georgia State, seeded sixth.  It was the second game of the evening session and the last game of the day. Neither Hofstra nor Georgia State brought a lot of fans, but there were enough other fans to make it a decent sized crowd, over 5200, for the last game at 8:30 on a Friday night.
The Pride entered the game with only three wins in conference on the season, but they had won two of their last three games, including a twenty nine point crushing of UNCW.  The ninth seeded Seahawks had earlier won their first round game, defeating the Dukes of James Madison.

Meanwhile, Georgia State, who in the preseason had been picked at the bottom of the CAA, finished sixth in the Colonial with eleven wins.  Ron Hunter, in his first year coaching the Panthers, took a team with the same talent that finished eleventh a season ago and made them a top tier team in the CAA.  Many people, including me, thought Hunter should have been picked Coach of the Year, but Bruiser Flint won the award.

I saw the game the Pride played vs. the Panthers last month at the Mack Center.  Georgia State jumped out a to a 16-5 lead with their aggressive zone defense.  The Panthers controlled most of the game and won handily 59-43.  If Hofstra was going to be successful, they would need to score in transition and not let Georgia State setup their zone defense.

And that was the philsophy of Coach Mo Cassara.  The Pride quickly got out of the gate and took a slim early lead on a couple of layups as they didn't allow the Panthers to setup their zone before they scored.   Hofstra was playing with a lot of energy early on in the game.

But Georgia State was equal to the task.  Eric Buckner, who I believe was snubbed out of the CAA Defensive Player of the Year Award, was dominating offensively.  Buckner had seven quick points.  His emphatic dunk gave the Panthers a 15-13 lead right before the under twelve media timeout.

In the past two years of the CAA Tournament, the sixth seed had lost to the eleventh seed.  Two years ago, James Madison knocked off Drexel.  Last year, I watched Quinn McDowell set a CAA Tournament record with thirty five points as William and Mary stunned James Madison.  After the first eight and half minutes, Hofstra was holding their own against Georgia State.  Could the sixth seed knock off the eleventh seed for the third year in a row?

The Panthers answered that question in the next eleven and a half minutes with a resounding "NO".

Buckner's emphatic dunk started a monstrous 24-4 run over the next eight and a half minutes to take a 39-17 lead.  Georgia State's swarming defense forced eight Hofstra turnovers in that span.  When the Pride didn't turn the ball over, they struggled to get a good shot off, missing six of their seven shots in that period of time.

Meanwhile, the Panthers were scoring at will on the Pride defense.  Georgia State scored forty five first half points, the most Hofstra had given up in the first half of a game during the season.  Georgia State shot sixteen of twenty seven from the field and eleven of twelve from the line.   The score was 45-24 at the half.  With the Panthers' swarming defense, the game was basically over.

All you could hope for if you were a Hofstra fan was that your team would play hard in the second half and make the game respectable.   Early in the second half, they did exactly that.  A Steve Mejia three cut the Georgia State lead to sixteen, 50-34.

But as Hunter said in his post game press conference, Georgia State was playing "with a chip on its shoulder".  They felt as if they had been not given the respect they deserved at the CAA Awards Banquet and they played inspired, even angry.  They weren't going to allow Hofstra to get any closer.

The Panthers responded with a 23-6 run over the next nine minutes.   At the under eight media timeout, Georgia State was up 73-40.  In my nine years of watching/covering the CAA Tournament, I had never seen such a dominant performance.

There was a young boy sitting behind the Hofstra bench with a sign that said "Free Hugs".  The Pride looked like they could use some hugs, because they had just been run over by a tractor trailer truck with a Georgia license plate.   The Panthers would go onto win 85-40.  It was the biggest margin of victory in CAA Tournament history.

Georgia State held Hofstra to thirty four percent shooting, twenty eight percent in the second half.  Meanwhile, the Panthers scorched the Pride, shooting fifty nine percent in the game.  Georgia State outscored Hofstra 48-18 in the paint.

Buckner was responsible for a lot of that damage, scoring twenty one points and grabbing eleven boards, four which came on the offensive end.  He was a perfect seven for seven from the field.  James Fields had fourteen points and Devonta White added thirteen for the Panthers.

Mike Moore, the leading scorer in the CAA had sixteen points for the Pride, but was only five of thirteen from the field.  Mejia had fourteen points, including two of four from beyond the arc.  Nathaniel Lester added eleven points.

Being a Hofstra fan at heart, it wasn't the ending I had envisioned.  Then again, having the Pride endure a 10-22 season was not what I envisioned either.   All you can do as a Hofstra fan is move on and hope for next season.  There is a major influx of talent coming in for next season.   Seasons may end, often in loss.  But hope is always eternal.  Right now, it needs to be.

Six Degrees of Hofstra Separation Part 2 - Pride Continue to Play Hard Despite the Results (Recap of Georgia State vs. Hofstra)

When the CAA Tournament is over and I look back on this Hofstra season, I will remember all the incredibly close games that ended in loss; the last second losses to Florida Atlantic, James Madison, Delaware, Northeastern, Drexel and George Mason. There were the large second half leads that evaporated vs. Boston University and Old Dominion.

The most frustrating thing to all this is that there weren't just losses.  You could perhaps accept this team's fate had there not been glimmers of hope. However, there was the potential this team showed in wins over LIU, Cleveland State and Iona, three teams that are currently in first place in their respective conferences.  At one time, Hofstra was 6-7 until they lost nine of their last eleven games.  That's what has made this team so mind numbing for its fans and probably for Hofstra Coach Mo Cassara as well.

On Friday night, ESPNU showed a graphic of Cleveland State's NCAA Tournament resume.  The good wins included a road win over Vanderbilt, a likely team in the NCAA Tournament.  The bad losses included their loss to Hofstra at the Legends' Classic in Rhode Island.  Having been one of the few fans in attendance for that game, including one of the few people to see former Pride player Bryant Crowder, nicknamed Bigfoot by DefiantlyDutch, actually play in a regular season game, I can tell you that it was a good win for Hofstra.

But when I do a retrospect on this team's season, I will also know that this team always played hard and never quit.  They even showed togetherness when they weren't on the court.  I was at a Hofstra women's basketball home game vs. James Madison a few weeks ago.  As I sat behind the Hofstra basket with my older son Matthew, I could see to the right of me, sitting in Section 110 the entire men's basketball team rooting on the women's team.

They were all in for this season and lately the results were starting to come together. They got their first conference win two weeks ago, rallying late on the road to defeat James Madison 71-69.  Then on Wednesday, they drubbed Towson 74-49.   Yesterday seemed like a golden opportunity to get their third win in conference against a Georgia State team that had struggled lately, losing four of its last six games.

After watching Fordham lose to Charlotte in our first game of our tripleheader on the day, Tieff. Matthew and I raced over to Hofstra.  Along the way, I dropped Tieff off at his car at a friend of mine's house where we had met before traveling to Fordham.  We then got to the Mack Center with time to spare before the start of the game.

It was Staff Appreciation Day at Hofstra.  Staff, faculty and administration could get up to four free tickets and vouchers for pretzels and drinks. It was also Mardi Gras Day at Hofstra as there was a big party with music for the students after the game.  Thus there was a good crowd of about 3800 people and the Lions' Den student section was in full force.

Since I have my season tickets already, I gave my two of my four extra free tickets to someone waiting on line, then grabbed four pretzels and three drinks from my free vouchers.  Needless to say, Matthew was happy with his bounty of pretzels.  Now we were ready to see how good this Georgia State team now was under with new coach Ron Hunter.

Overall on the season, the Panthers have been so much better with Coach Hunter at the helm.  Basically taking over the same team that went 12-19 last season, Hunter, one of the main supporters of Samaritan's Feet, already has Georgia State with fifteen wins on the season and 7-5 in the CAA, good for fifth in conference.  They are first in the Colonial in field goal percentage defense, second in scoring defense, first in blocked shots and second in steals and turnover margin.

Hunter has a take no prisoners kind of approach to coaching.  Watching him on the sidelines yesterday, I can tell you that he is demonstrative, demands excellence of his team at all moments.  He spent most of the game yelling at his team during the action and during timeouts.  He makes Bruiser Flint seem mellow in comparison.  My favorite Hunter moment this season was after a poor effort in a win over Towson, he tweeted " I love my basketball team, but tomorrow practice will be epic. Bring your lunch pail."

The Panthers are now a reflection of their coach.  As I watched the first few minutes unfold on the court, I was really impressed with Georgia State. They are very active on the defensive end with a matchup zone and they challenge shots frequently.  Within the first four and a half minutes, the Panthers had three blocks.  As a result, Hofstra struggled to get good shots off against Georgia State. The Panthers did a really good job focusing on Mike Moore, as he did not score his first two points of the game until late in the first half.

Meanwhile, Georgia State was getting good looks from the perimeter.  They would hit six of their nine three point attempts in the first half as Devonta While and Rashard Richardson each connected on three of their shots.  The Panthers would shoot forty seven percent from the field in the first half.

The Panthers went out to a 16-5 lead with nine minutes left in the first half.  As Georgia State was putting on such a dominating defensive performance, one of the fans in my section that I am friendly with said to me "What's the NCAA record for fewest points in a half?"   Fortunately, the Pride scored thirteen more points to avoid such a fate, but the Panthers scored another fifteen to take a 33-18 lead at the half.

While a New Orleans style brass band played terrific halftime music, I was perusing stats with Defiantly Dutch and our good friend, Joe Suhoski who was covering the game on press row.  Interestingly enough, Hofstra had more field goal attempts than Georgia State, 29-21 due in large part to nine offensive rebounds.  But the Pride were an awful one of twelve from beyond the arc.

The start of the second half saw the Panthers maintain their large lead as they were up sixteen, 43-27.  But Hofstra was starting to solve Georgia State's defense, while they forced turnovers due to a trap they implemented at the beginning of the second half.   They would outscore the Panthers 12-3 over the next five minutes to cut the lead to 46-39.

Three times Hofstra had a chance to cut the lead even further.  But Moore missed an open three point look, then turned the ball over.  Then after a steal, Steve Mejia drove in for a layup against defensive pressure.  But as a symbol to the Hofstra season, the layup bounced on the rim a couple of times then went off.  Georgia State would respond with a 5-0 spurt to put the lead back up to twelve, 51-39 with a little less than six minutes left.  

From there, the Panthers clamped down on the Pride.  Hofstra would only score four more points the rest of the way and Georgia State went on to a convincing 59-43 win.  Four players scored in double figures for Georgia State who shot 55 percent from the field.  White led all scorers with fifteen points, while Jihad Ali had fourteen points, Richardson had twelve points and Eric Buckner had twelve points and six blocks.

Despite having seventeen more field goal attempts, in large part due to eighteen offensive rebounds, the Pride shot just 29 percent from the field.   Nathaniel Lester had a double double with fourteen points and ten rebounds, while Moore had eleven second half points to finish with thirteen.  Moore and Lester had to work for their points though, as they combined to shoot eleven of thirty one from the field.

It was again another tough loss for the Pride.  They battled the Panthers basically even during the second half, but they had dug themselves too big a whole in the first half.   They just need to keep plugging away and try to get a couple of wins down the stretch before the CAA Tournament.   It doesn't get any easier with two road games at George Mason and at Drexel, two teams tied for first in conference.

Nothing ever comes easy in the Colonial.  You have to keep playing hard and refuse to quit.