ATLANTA – Two players scored in double figures including a team-high 15 points from graduate senior guard Payton Willis as College of Charleston dropped a 72-55 road decision at Georgia State on Monday night at the GSU Sports Arena.
 
The Cougars (2-5) played a 10-player rotation against the run-and-gun Panthers (6-1), who came into the ballgame with the nation's second-best scoring offense (97.2 ppg). Defensively, CofC would manage to hold Georgia State to its second-lowest scoring output of the season.
 
GSU led 43-28 at halftime after a first half where it made 65.2 percent of its shots from the field (15-of-23). Corey Allen and Justin Roberts each had a game-high 20 points, while Eliel Nsoseme had 10.
 
Charleston got within five on a 3-pointer made by freshman forward Keegan Harvey, 52-47, with 11:13 remaining in regulation. The Panthers would go on an 8-0 run to put the game back in double digits for good.
 
Willis was joined in double figures by sophomore guard Brenden Tucker, who returned home to the Atlanta area and scored 11 points with his family and friends in the stands.
 
After the holiday break, the Cougars will open Colonial Athletic Association play on the road with a pair of back-to-back league games at Delaware (2-3) on Saturday, Jan. 2, and Sunday, Jan. 3 at 2 p.m. (ET) in Newark, Del.
 
POSTGAME NOTES
· For the second-straight game, College of Charleston went with the starting lineup of Zep Jasper, Payton Willis, DeAngelo Epps, Dontavius King and Osinachi Smart.
· Georgia State claimed its first win in the all-time series versus College of Charleston since 1993. The Cougars had won 12-straight in the series dating back to when both teams were members of the Trans America Athletic Conference (TAAC).
· Payton Willis registered a team-high 15 points including 12 in the first half of play at Georgia State. He has now reached double figures in six of the team's seven games on the season.
· Brenden Tucker notched 11 points against the Panthers to mark his second game in double figures in the last three contests for the Cougars.
· Osinachi Smart brought down nine of the team's 31 rebounds in the game including four on the offensive glass.
· The CofC defense held the nation's second-best scoring offense to 72 points – Georgia State's second-lowest scoring output of the season next to 69 points in a loss to Mercer on Nov. 30.
 
POSTGAME QUOTES
 
College of Charleston Head Coach Earl Grant
On the game …
"Obviously, it was a disappointing first half. We got out to a slow start and they (Georgia State) got off to a hot start. They had eight threes in the first half. We didn't cover a couple of their shooters the way we needed to. We played a lot of young guys in the second half. They gave us a great lift, so that was encouraging. Give Georgia State credit. They did what they needed to do to win the game."
 
On the team's shot selection …
"I thought in the first half, we didn't have enough assisted baskets. There were a lot of plays where we could have made the extra pass and found a way to make an easier basket. We have to learn from it and try to get better. Obviously, it was our last non-conference game. Our guys get a break. We will come back and try to get better."
 
On getting the young guys on the team more experience in this game …
"This team is still searching for all of the guys that can help us. With a lot of new guys, some guys haven't gotten much of an opportunity. Certainly tonight, Brenden (Tucker) played a lot of minutes and gave us a great lift as well as D'Avian Houston. Keegan (Harvey) made some shots and that was good to see. It's nice to see those young guys step-up and do some good things for us. We will need them as this season continues to go on. We need to continue to work hard and make sure we get our big guys more involved. We didn't get much from our post players tonight. We definitely aren't a finished product. We have some work to do to improve this team."