In front of a sold out crowd in Atlanta, the Georgia Southern men’s basketball team was defeated by the Georgia State Panthers, 81-72. A strong game by D’Marcus Simonds and Kane Williams led the Panthers to clinch the first spot of the Sun Belt standings.

Redshirt sophomore guard Quan Jackson led the team with 20 points and three rebounds, while junior forward Isaiah Crawley added 15 points and three rebounds. It was an uncharacteristically quiet game points-wise for senior guard Tookie Brown, but he contributed 11 points, along with five rebounds and a steal. Senior forward Monate Glenn added ten rebounds and three assists.

Redshirt junior forward Simeon Carter had a big game, with 11 points and two assists. This is his fifth game of the season tallying double digit points.

GS struggled on offense in the first half, shooting just 37 percent from the field and 16 percent from the free-throw line. Jackson and Brown went into the half with just four points a piece, and Crawley led the team with nine points in the first half.

Georgia State’s junior guard D’Marcus Simonds scored a season high 29 points and six rebounds, including four three-pointers. Sophomore guard Kane Williams scored 19 points and four assists.

GS took the lead several times during the second half. The shot accuracy improved to 55 percent. A late time out threw off the team rhythm and allowed the Panthers to take the lead with about three minutes left, and never give it back. GS was not able to stop the ball during the final few minutes of play.

With this loss, GS falls to 13-9 overall and 5-4 in the conference. The team is placed third in the Sun Belt, behind Georgia State, Texas State, Coastal Carolina, and UTA. GS travels to Louisiana on Wednesday to take on the Ragin Cajuns in another crucial conference match. You can stream the game on ESPN+.