FINAL STATS

ATLANTA – The Jacksonville State men's basketball team pulled out a 80-73 double overtime win at Georgia State on Saturday, snapping a string of non-conference road losses that dates back almost five years.

Three freshmen accounted for 55 points and led the Gamecocks (2-1) to their first on-conference road win since Dec. 16, 2003, snapping a string of 16-straight losses on their opponents' home floor.

“I knew that this was a big win for us and for JSU,” JSU head coach James Green said. “But I didn't know it had been so long since we had won a non-conference game on the road. I thought we got the ball inside as much as we needed to and did a great job of getting to the foul line.”

Freshman Geddes Robinson led the way with 24 points, thanks to an 8-for-8 effort from the field and an 8-of-10 showing from the free throw line. The Bronx, N.Y., native scored 12 in the first half and added the other dozen the rest of the way. IT was the Gamecocks' first double-overtime game since 2005.

“The big thing is that we played everybody,” Green added. “We made some mistakes, both offensively and defensively, because we are young, but every guy out there made a positive play that helped us win this game.”

Freshmen Stephen Hall and Brandon Crawford made a lot of those plays. Hall, a Birmingham native, scored 18, 16 after the half, while the Montgomery native Crawford scored 13 in the win. Add in a point by freshman John Barnes and the Gamecocks got 56 points from freshmen.

The Panthers were led by Joe Dukes and Trae Goldston, who each scored 21 points. Dukes, their leading scorer entering the game, saw limited time on the floor because of foul trouble. Leonard Mendez added 10 for GSU.

Georgia State, who entered the game averaging 11 rebounds more than its opponents this season, grabbed just three more than the Gamecocks. JSU shot 46 percent from the floor, while the Panthers hit 45 percent of their attempts.

The Gamecocks were able to control the tempo of the first half, shooting 42 percent from the floor and holding GSU's leading scorer, Dukes, on the bench for half of the first 20 minutes with foul trouble. Robinson was 5-of-5 from the floor in the first half to lead all scorers with 12 points. Mendez led the way for the Panthers with 10.

JSU led most of the way in the second half, holding as much as an eight-point advantage with just under 10 minutes to play. The Panthers mounted a rally and led by three twice before the Gamecocks cut it to two with a chance to win it in the final second of regulation. Barnes 3-point attempt as time expired missed long, but a tip by sophomore Jeremy Bynum found the bottom of the hoop as the horn sounded to send the game into overtime.

A trey by James Fields with 43 seconds left in the first overtime gave the Panthers a 64-62 advantage, but a layup from Hall with 24 tick on the clock tied the game again and set up the second overtime.

JSU never trailed in the second extra frame and forced three of the Panthers' 20 turnovers to put the game away. JSU was 4-of-6 from the floor in the second overtime and hit its last seven free throws to seal the win.

The Gamecocks will fly to Amherst, Mass., on Sunday, where they will face UMass on Monday in a 6 p.m. CT game. The matchup with the Minutemen will be broadcast live on the JSU Radio Network with Mike Parris calling all of the action.