WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
* Georgia State got down by 28 points and rallied to within four points with five minutes to go, but fell 72-65 at Tennessee Tech.
* GSU shot 31.9 percent for the game (22 of 69) after a 25 percent first half.
* After two road games, the Panthers will play the home opener on Saturday evening at 7 p.m. vs. Morehead State.
COOKEVILLE, TENN – Tennessee Tech held off a second-half Georgia State rally to earn a 72-65 win Thursday night at Eblen Center. Tech had an 18-point lead at 46-28, but visiting GSU had it down to 64-60 with 5:46 and had the ball.
Georgia State (1-1) was its own worst enemy tonight, shooting just 22-of-69 from the field (31.9%) with a 25 percent first half (7 of 28). The Panthers had to make up for that with some hustle plays that forced 24 Tech turnovers to make 11 steals, while grabbing 20 offensive rebounds.
Tennessee Tech (1-2) started strong in building a 21-12 first quarter lead with 50 percent shooting. The Eagles shot 46 percent for the game (27 of 59). Guard Samaria Howard made 8 of 18 shots for a game-high 21 points for Tech.
Georgia State was led tonight by freshman forward Astaja Tyghter with 16 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Junior Tatianna Jackson added 11 points. Leading scorer Makeba Ponder was 3 of 13 for seven points.
After the 21-12 first quarter, host Tech duplicated that with another 21 points and had a 42-28 halftime advantage. The Eagles largest first half lead was 40-22 at 1:34 in the half. Tech was still cruising through the third quarter with another 18-point lead at 46-28 and were up by 14 after three quarters, 59-45.
Three quick baskets to start the fourth quarter gave GSU a spark to close to 59-51 at 9:45, but Tech made it 62-51 at 8:22 for the last double-figure lead. The Panthers got a 3-pointer from Ashlee Cole and a basket from Kennesha Nichols to make it 62-56 with 7:10. The Panthers continued to claw and had it down to 64-60 at 5:46 and had the ball. But, five more missed shots killed that rally.
“You can't win a basketball game shooting like we did tonight,” coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener of the obvious. “We missed a ton of easy shots, so we can give Tech credit, but know we really hurt ourselves. They did fight like crazy tonight to get back in the game by forcing turnovers, hitting the offensive glass and getting to the free throw line 25 times. You can't dig big holes like that and expect to win and you can't shoot that poorly and expect to win. Now, we'll get to play a game on our home court on Saturday.”
