MOBILE, Ala. – The Georgia State men's basketball team took the lead in the first minute of the game and never relinquished it, despite a furious University of South Alabama comeback attempt, in an 83-80 victory Monday night at the Mitchell Center.

The Panthers keep their win streak alive at six and go to 14-7 overall and 7-2 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Jaguars fall to 10-12 and 3-6.

"It was a great basketball game," USA head coach Matthew Graves said. "I thought both teams really battled. I'm really proud of our effort. We were down by as much as 16 at one point in the first half and they were shooting the ball extremely well offensively.

"We went into halftime and made a couple adjustments. I thought especially in the beginning of the second half, we really defended well. I think if we didn't have a couple turnovers in that stretch, instead of catching up about four or five points, we might have caught up eight, nine or 10 points.  We hung tough, and I thought some guys made some big shots down the stretch. Unfortunately when you allow 59 percent from the field it's going to be awfully tough to win that ballgame."

South Alabama tied the contest twice in the final four minutes, the last coming with 1:11 left on a layup from senior Ken Williams (Houston, Texas), but Georgia State's Jeremy Hollowell banked in a 3-pointer from the left wing with 44.6 seconds left to give the Panthers the lead for the final time.

"I thought we did a great job guarding him and had him contained," Graves noted. "Josh (Ajayi) had switched on him and sometimes that's what really good players do – they find a way to make a shot. You have to give him a lot of credit, he made a big shot."

Williams, who accounted for the Jags' final 12 points, kept them in the game by going 3 for 3 from the floor in the last 16.7 seconds, but GSU went 7 for 8 at the free-throw line down the stretch to keep USA at bay.

Georgia State took the lead at the 19:23 mark of the first half on a triple from Hollowell, and used an 11-0 run to stretch its advantage to 32-16 with 5:35 to play.

The Jaguars scored the next nine points to get it down to seven, but the Panthers took an 11-point advantage into intermission and went up 12 in the early stages of the second half before a 12-4 USA spurt trimmed the deficit to four with 13:14 left.

GSU's largest lead was seven the rest of the way and just six in the final 9:21. USA used runs of 6-0 and 5-0 to tie the game, but was unable to get ahead.

"I think guys are figuring some things out, but it's frustrating when you dig yourself a little bit of a hole like that and have to fight your way out of it," Graves stated. "I couldn't be more proud of their effort this weekend coming off some games I didn't think we played quite as well in. We talked a lot about pride and being great teammates. I thought we took a step in the right direction with these games."

Williams recorded 21 points – 17 in the second half – and made three 3-pointers and dished out three assists. It is his largest point total since Nov. 26 at Eastern Illinois, and his team-high-tying fourth 20-point game of the year.

"I thought he got in a really good rhythm," Graves said. "In the first half he was 1 for 6 or 1 for 7 at one point, but he got into a better rhythm as we moved the ball. We figured out the more player movement we have, the harder it is to guard.

"It's unique because not many Sun Belt teams play 40 minutes of zone like Georgia State, and when you don't see it for a while you get stagnant. On one day of prep we just didn't have enough time to get enough reps in and really moving the ball and cutting, finding open shooters and flashing in the middle. But again, I thought as the game wore on, we did a good job."

Freshman Josh Ajayi (El Monte, Calif.) reached double-digit points for the 11th time in the last 13 games with 13. Freshman Trhae Mitchell (Austell, Ga.) handed out a career-best five assists, and senior Georgi Boyanov (Lovech, Bulgaria) had nine points and eight rebounds off the bench.

D'Marcus Simonds had a team-high 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting and added five assists and three steals. Hollowell had 20 points and went 4 for 5 from behind the 3-point arc.

The Jaguars start a three-game road trip Saturday at Troy.

NOTES: South Alabama's six Sun Belt losses have come to teams with a combined 37-17 record in league play, with four defeats coming to the three teams tied for first with a 7-2 mark… Boyanov's eight rebounds are his most since Dec. 13 vs. Denver… Williams and Ajayi are averaging 14.8 points and 14.2 points, respectively, in conference games… The Jags have trailed at halftime in six of their last seven games and are now 2-9 when behind at the break… GSU's first-half field-goal percentage of .609 and overall percentage of .591 are season highs by an opponent… South Alabama won the rebounding battle (32-25) for the first time in nine games… USA shot just 2 for 7 (28.6%) from the foul line in the first half but went 17 for 20 (85.0%) in the second… The Jaguars allowed an opponent to shoot 50 percent or better from the floor in the second half for the 12th time this season (3-9 record)… USA won the bench points 33-23 but fell to 10-5 this year when doing so… South Alabama's 11 steals tied its season high, and junior Nick Davis (Mt. Vernon, Ala.) equaled his career best with three… In Davis' last two games, he is averaging 8.5 points while shooting 7 for 8 from the floor… The Jaguars' 52 second-half points are their most against a Division I opponent… USA fell to 2-10 this year when posting a negative assist/turnover ratio (15 assists, 18 turnovers)… Williams has scored in double-digits in his last seven games, the longest active streak on the team.

The 2017 Sun Belt Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Championships are scheduled for a week of March Madness in the Big Easy.  New Orleans will once again be home to the two championships that will take place at Lakefront Arena from March 7-12 and ticket books can now be purchased from your school's ticket office.  For more information, visit the Sun Belt Conference's championship central websites - Men's Championship – Women's Championship – and be sure to follow the #FunBelt on social media - @SunBelt.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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