What You Need to Know:
* Georgia State earned a fifth-straight win with a 78-72 victory over Troy on Saturday afternoon at Trojan Arena.
* Freshman D'Marcus Simonds tied a career-high with 26 points. He has scored 24 or more in three of the last four games.
* Senior Jeremy Hollowell scored the 1,000th point of his career late in the first half.
TROY, Ala.-Georgia State freshman D'Marcus Simonds tied a career-high with 26 points to lead the Panthers to a 78-72 win over Troy at Trojan Arena on Saturday afternoon. The Panthers won for a fifth-straight game since both Simonds and Isaiah Williams returned from injuries.
Simonds has scored 24 or more points in three of the last four games. He finished 12-of-17 from the floor, pulling down six rebounds and dishing out 3 assists.
Georgia State (13-7, 6-2 Sun Belt) has won six of seven, with the lone loss coming to Troy (11-11, 3-5 Sun Belt) in Atlanta three weeks ago.
Senior Jeremy Hollowell just missed a double-double with 14 points and eight rebounds. Hitting a jumper with 5:30 to play in the first half, Hollowell scored the 1,000th point of his career. He ironically did it in the same arena as former Panther R.J. Hunter whom Hollowell has been close friends with since the third grade.
“I thought we got a little tired at the end, but it is always good to come on the road and get a win,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “The guys are really starting to figure it out. Every run Troy had we were able to answer. As for D'Marcus, he just keeps getting better. They started to zone him, but we just have too many shooters and other guys were able to step up.”
Trailing 6-3 early, Georgia State responded with a 7-0 run to take a 10-6 lead with 12:47 to play.
Leading 21-19, Georgia State used a 13-0 run, capped by a Malik Benlevi 3-pointer to take a 34-19 lead with 54 seconds to play. Simonds scored six points during the run that held Troy scoreless for nearly five and a half minutes.
Georgia State went into the locker room leading 36-22, shooting 53.3 percent in the first half and forcing Troy into 11 turnovers which led to 16 points.
Troy chipped into Georgia State's lead throughout the second half, cutting the halftime deficit in half, 46-39, with 14:21 to play.
A 3-pointer by Baker with 6:41 to play cut Georgia State's lead to just three, but the Panthers would respond with a 7-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Jeff Thomas to push the lead back to 10, 67-57 with 4:06 to play.
With under a minute to play, Wesley Person hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cut Georgia State's lead to 74-70 with 47 seconds to play, but the Panthers would make all four free throws in the final minute to secure the win.
Person finished with 25 points, knocking down seven 3-pointers for the Trojans, while Jeremy Hollimon added 16 points.
Thomas came off the bench to score 11 points, knocking down three 3-pointers, while Benlevi and Williams each scored eight points. Junior Jordan Session added seven points and four rebounds.
The Panthers finished the game shooting 55.2 percent, while swiping 11 steals and outscoring Troy in the paint 46-20.
Georgia State will travel to Mobile, Ala., on Saturday night to prepare to face South Alabama on Monday night at 9 p.m. ET live on American Sports Network and WatchESPN.
