TROY, Ala.-A 3-pointer by Troy's Jordan Varnado with 1.7 seconds to play proved to be the game winner as the Trojans snapped Georgia State's seven-game winning streak on Saturday afternoon at Trojan Arena.
Junior D'Marcus Simonds led Georgia State (14-5, 5-1 Sun Belt) with 28 points on 11-of-24 shooting but missed the first end of a one-and-one with 13 seconds to play, giving Troy (10-8, 3-3 Sun Belt) an opportunity at the game-winning basket.
Simonds moved into third place on Georgia State's all-time scoring list with 1,504 points and now trails Rodney Hamilton by just 11 points for second place.
Varnado just missed a double-double for Troy finishing with 32 points and nine rebounds. Alex Hicks also just missed a double-double for the Trojans with eight points and nine rebounds, while Charles Norman came off the bench to score 15.
Devin Mitchell continued his hot play from 3-point range, finishing with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting with four 3-pointers. Mitchell has made 44 3-pointers in the last 11 games.
“Obviously we are disappointed with the loss as we had an opportunity at the end,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “However, we still managed to split on the road so we need to keep that in perspective. We know teams are going to give us their best shot and Troy did that today. After opening league play with four of the first six on the road, we are home for the next three.”
Georgia State saw its 18-game winning streak in the month of January snapped. Ironically, it was Troy that handed the Panthers their last January loss in 2017.
The Panthers were without the services of starter Kane Williams who was injured during pre-game warm-ups. He will be re-evaluated when Georgia State returns to Atlanta.
Neither team led by more than six points in the first half as the Georgia State and Troy battled through nine lead changes and five ties in the first 20 minutes.
Tied 30-30, Troy used a late first-half run to take a 36-30 lead as part of a run of eight straight made field goals. However, the Panthers responded and went into the locker room trailing by just two.
Simonds led the Panthers with 12 first-half points, while Varnado led Troy with 15 on 7-of-11 shooting. Both teams shot better than 48 percent in the first half but struggled from the free throw line going a combined 5-of-16.
Georgia State opened the second half on a 7-2 run and on a Malik Benlevi 3-pointer, took a 41-38 lead. Minutes later a Simonds trey pushed the lead to 44-40.
Troy responded with a 6-0 run to take a 50-49 with 12:13 to play to take its last lead of the game before Varnado's 3-pointer. The Panthers responded with another 3-pointer from Mitchell and pushed the lead to 56-50 with 10:05 to play.
Over the final 10 minutes, Georgia State never trailed and led by as many as six on two occasions.
Freshman Nelson Phillips came off the bench to finish with seven points and five rebounds, while Damon Wilson filled in for Williams scoring seven points.
Georgia State finished 5-of-12 from the free throw line while Troy went 13-of-21.
Georgia State will return home to face Texas State on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the GSU Sports Arena. The game will serve as Coach Hunter's annual 'Barefoot for Bare Feet' game in which he coaches barefoot to raise awareness for Samaritan's Feet and the 300 million individuals around the world who wake up each day without shoes.
