Phillips, Wilson Each Score 20, Panthers Top Coastal Carolina 92-80

Box Score ATLANTA-Senior Damon Wilson and sophomore Nelson Phillips each scored 20 points and Georgia State nearly led throughout topping Coastal Carolina 92-80 on Saturday afternoon at the GSU Sports Arena.

Georgia State (18-9, 11-5 Sun Belt) won for the third-straight time and moved to within one game of first-place Little Rock with four games to play after trailing for just 27 seconds on Saturday.

Coastal Carolina (13-14, 6-10 Sun Belt) lost for the eighth time in the last 11 games despite DeVante Jones just missing a triple-double with 24 points, nine assists, and six rebounds.

Wilson went 4-of-8 from 3-point range for the Panthers who knocked down 11 3-pointers in the game. The senior also went 6-of-6 from the free throw line helping Georgia State go a season-best 31-of-34 from the charity stripe.

Phillips came off the bench to go 7-of-13 from the floor with three 3-pointers, while redshirt-sophomore Justin Roberts added 17 points and six assists. Junior Kane Williams was the fourth Panther in double figures scoring 15 points to go along with seven rebounds.

The Panthers have won 25 of their last 27 home games and will now embark on a two-game trip to Texas before concluding the regular season with two final home games.

"As far as conference play goes, I feel like we improved this weekend more than any other weekend in Sun Belt play this season," head coach Rob Lanier said after the win. "When you get this late in the season it is a grind mentally. I was concerned going into Thursday's game that I kept the team on the court too much on Wednesday. Fortunately, it didn't bite us, and we came out with great energy on Thursday and I thought we followed that up today."

After Coastal took its only lead of the game at 3-2, Georgia State went ahead 11-5 just over three minutes into the game on a 3-pointer by Williams.

An 8-0 Georgia State run gave the Panthers a 24-15 lead with 8:39 to play and just minutes later the Panthers took their first double-digit lead of the game, 30-20, on a lay-up by Wilson.

Another Georgia State 6-0 run capped by a Roberts 3-pointer gave the Panthers a 41-29 lead with 90 seconds to play as the Panthers went into the locker room leading 43-32. Georgia State went 16-of-18 from the free throw line in the first half.

The Panthers got hot early in the second half making six of seven field goals and following another 3-pointer by Roberts went ahead 58-45 with 15:27 to play.

On a putback dunk by Phillips, Georgia State took its biggest lead of the game, 63-47, with 12:28 remaining.

Coastal Carolina got as close as six points, 69-63, with 8:06 to play, before another 3-pointer by Wilson put the Panthers back ahead by nine. The Chanticleers would not get closer than six points again as the Panthers pushed the lead back to 14 points on multiple occasions.

Garrick Green added 17 points, while Tim Ceaser just missed a double-double with 14 points and eight rebounds for Coastal Carolina.

Georgia State's 31 made free throws ranks just outside the top 10 in program history, while the 91.2 free throw percentage is tied for the 18^th-best single game mark in school history.

Notes:

Georgia State has compiled an 89-39 league record since rejoining the Sun Belt Conference in 2013-14.
Although Coastal Carolina still leads the all-time series 5-3, Georgia State is 2-1 against the Chanticleers in the GSU Sports Arena.
Redshirt-junior Chris Clerkley has now been a part of 86 wins in a GSU uniform. He is just two wins shy of being a part of the winningest four-year stretch in program history.
With a 3-pointer today, Georgia State has made at least one 3-pointer in 775 games dating back to Feb. 18, 1995.
Since the start of the 2013-14 season, the Panthers have won 152 games, the most of any NCAA Division 1 program in the state of Georgia.

Georgia State will begin its final regular season road trip of the year at UT Arlington on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET. The game will air live on ESPN+ and can be heard on WRAS-FM 88.5 and the GSU Mobile App.

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Players Mentioned

#14 Chris Clerkley: F; 6' 8"; Senior

#10 Nelson Phillips: G; 6' 4"; Sophomore

#2 Justin Roberts: G; 5' 11"; Redshirt Sophomore

#12 Kane Williams: G; 6' 3"; Junior

#1 Damon Wilson: G; 6' 5"; Redshirt Senior

Players Mentioned

#14 Chris Clerkley
: 6' 8"; Senior
: F

#10 Nelson Phillips
: 6' 4"; Sophomore
: G

#2 Justin Roberts
: 5' 11"; Redshirt Sophomore
: G

#12 Kane Williams
: 6' 3"; Junior
: G

#1 Damon Wilson
: 6' 5"; Redshirt Senior
: G