Monarchs Drop 77-70 Road Decision To Georgia State

  
ATLANTA, Ga. -- A Toneri Lane 3-pointer with 1:44 left and four free throws in the final 45 seconds enabled Georgia State to come back and defeat Old Dominion 77-70 in a Sun Belt Conference men's basketball matchup on Thursday night.
 
"We played an outstanding first half, very energetic. Our zone was active and we rebounded very well," said ODU Interim Head Coach Kieran Donohue. "We were able to attack them in the first half and get a good roll. In the second half, Georgia State's defense was much better. We couldn't consistently get the shots we did in the first half and settled for too many guarded jump shots. They really pounded the glass, 10 offensive rebounds in the second half, which was a major factor."
 
Tyrone Williams went 1-of-2 from the line with 11:05 mark to give ODU a 57-50 lead. The Panthers followed with six straight to trim the deficit to 57-56 following a Jamaine Mann layup with 9:43 remaining.
 
The lead for ODU (4-12, 0-4) stayed in the one-to-three-point range for the next few minutes as Dani Pounds went one-of-two from the line with 6:40 left and a 64-62 lead. Georgia State (8-7, 3-1) took its first lead of the second half with 5:20 remaining as Lane hit a jumper for a 65-64 advantage.
 
That advantage grew to 70-66 following Jay'Den Turner's two free throws at the 3:04 mark. ODU made one last run as Jason Wade hit a layup off an Allette feed to cut the deficit in half at 70-68 with 2:47 left. Chaunce Jenkins had a steal and found Williams for a layup to even the game at 70 with 2:17 left. From there, Georgia State scored the last seven points for the win.
 
"There were a lot of positives, but we got to find a way to get just a little better offensively with decision making, gang-rebounding," said Donohue. "As frustrating as it is, I think we played a better basketball game tonight than either of the games last weekend."
 
The first half saw Old Dominion come out blistering and use a 20-5 run to take a 23-10 lead as Devin Ceaser drained a 3-pointer, followed by a R.J. Blakney triple for a 26-10 lead with 11:14 on the clock. Ceaser scored five straight points to cap a flurry as he hit a three-pointer off a Wade feed to have a 20-point advantage at 39-19 with 6:46 left.
 
Allette had 19 points, seven rebounds and a season-high nine assists to lead the Monarchs. Williams had 17 points and three steals, Blakney with 12 points hitting 4-of-4 from 3-point range, and Ceaser chipped in with 10 points.
 
ODU now heads to Coastal Carolina for a 3:30 p.m. tip on Saturday in Conway, South Carolina.