­ATLANTA—R.J. Hunter scored 22 points and Devonta White added 19 points and seven assists as Georgia State downed Albany State, 80-60, in an exhibition game Sunday evening at the GSU Sports Arena.

The game was the final preseason tune-up for the Panthers, who open the regular season at eighth-ranked Duke Friday at 7 p.m. at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The game will be televised on ESPNU on the opening night of college basketball season.

Hunter hit four three-pointers and went 8-for-9 at the free throw line to follow his 30-point effort in GSU’s first exhibition game. He also had four rebounds and three steals.

White, who sat out the first exhibition, had two treys and three steals while hitting 7-of-8 from the charity stripe.

“I thought we were much better today,” commented head coach Ron Hunter after the win. “We built up a very big lead and my only disappointment is that we let is slide at the end of the game.

“We played really well defensively tonight. That was a lot more of the way I expect us to play on the defensive end of the court. I just want us to keep getting better every game and we were able to do that tonight.”

Albany State took an early 12-7 lead with 13:13 remaining in the first half. The Panthers responded with a 9-0 run over a three-minute stretch to take a 16-12 lead with 10:13 to play. Freshman Cameron Solomon scored five points in the run and finished the game with seven points.

Leading 35-24 at the half, Georgia State opened the second half with a 29-6 run to build a 64-30 advantage with 11 minutes to play. The Panthers took a 72-37 lead on White’s three-point basket with 8:25 left before emptying the bench.

Georgia State finished the game shooting 30-of-34 from the free throw line, an 88.2 percent mark, making 18 straight at one point. The Panthers finished with 14 steals, forcing Albany State into 21 turnovers. GSU turned those 21 turnovers into 33 points.

Manny Atkins added 13 points for GSU while freshman Markus Crider finished with nine in just 21 minutes.

Trey Gosier led Albany State with 12 points, while Andrew Covin added 12.

Georgia State’s next home game will come on Nov. 19 as the Panthers host Monmouth on the first day of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.

www.GeorgiaStateSports.com