Georgia State wins 38-36!!! Sun Belt conference champs! NCAA Tournament bound!
Timeout Georgia Southern. 5.1 seconds left.
38-36 Georgia State with 21.6 seconds left.
R.J Hunter to the line for two.
Minor cramp for Kevin Ware. He's back on the court.
1:26 left. All tied up at 36. Down to the wire in New Orleans.
Wiedeman ties it up for Georgia Southern.
Crider gives Georgia State a two point lead in the bonus. 36-34.
3:39 left. Georgia Southern is in the bonus.
Ferguson goes 2/2. Southern ties it up at 34.
Ferguson to the line for two.
Hunter gets the lead!
Shot clock violation on Georgia Southern.
R.J. Hunter back in the game.
Session goes 0/2.
Jordan Session to the line for State.
Georgia State has only made one out of their last six shots.
7:35 left. All tied up at 32.
Hewitt ties it up at 32.
Four fouls on R.J. Hunter.
Jelani Hewitt to the line for two shots.
32-30 Georgia State with 8:53 left in the game.
Ware for three!!! 18 points.
30-29.
Southern leads for the first time!
Southern with the three! Mike Hughes.
29-25 Georgia State with 11:54 left in the second half.
Shot clock violation on Georgia State
Both shots are good.
Wiedeman gets fould on the dunk attempt for Southern. Two free throws coming up.
Ware off the baseline! 15 points!
27-21 Georgia State.
Good fastbreak.
Ware and one!
15:58 left in the second half. 25-19 Georgia State.
Offensive foul on Green. Southern ball.
Back to back buckets for Markus Crider!
Crider answers for State!
21-19 game.
Allsmiller for three for Southern!
Curtis Washington! 21-16 State.
The second half is about to start!
19-16 Georgia State at halftime.
Wiedeman at the rim! Still 19-16 Georgia State.
Another Southern turnover.
10 points in the paint for State.
Crider from Ware!
Ware is cookin'! 11 points. 17-14 Georgia State with 2:07 left in the first half.
Ware! Nine points.
Southern is missing too many point blank range layups.
State hasn't scored in 3:23.
3:45 left in the first half. 13-12 Georgia State.
Out of bounds. Southern ball.
13-12 Georgia State.
Hewitt for three! His second.
6:19 left in the half. 13-9 Georgia State.
Ferguson for three!
Seven points for Ware.
Ware is warming up!!
Hunter splits the D! 11-6 State.
Hunter is struggling for Georgia State...
Hewitt for three! 9-6 State.
Ware! He has five points.
Wiedeman at the line for Southern.
Southern with the steal! Doyle fouled up the court.
Hunter is 1/5 from the field for State.
11:20 left in the first half. 7-3 Georgia State.
7-3 State.
Shipes goes 1/2 at the line for State.
6-3 State.
Hughes with the follow. First FG for Southern.
Georgia State with the agressiveness on the offensive boards!
Ware knocks it down. 6-1 Georgia State.
5-1 Georgia State with 15:46 left in the first half. Kevin Ware will be at the free throw line for one shot.
Kevin Ware and one!
Ferguson goes 1/2 for Southern.
Eric Ferguson to the line for two free throws for Southern.
Harrow for three!! 3-0 State.
Georgia State ball. Still scoreless.
Georgia State is doing a great job of forcing turnovers and getting to loose balls early.
State with the turnover!
Tipoff!!
Ryann Green in for Harrow.
Ryan Harrow was not warming up for Georgia State. Will not get the start for today.
Welcome to the Sun Belt Conference tournament final! This should be fun.
It will be a battle in New Orleans and in the end, only won team will head to the NCAA Tournament. Georgia State is the favorite coming in at 6.5. They are coming into their conference tournament championship game as winners of eight out of their last 10 game and look to translate their impressive run into the NCAA Tournament. Their balanced scoring attack of Kevin Ware, Ryan Harrow, and R.J. Hunter look to avenge their Sun Belt Conference Championship Final loss from last season.
Jelani Hewitt leads the Eagles in scoring at 17 PPG and also in assists at 3 APG. He only had 11 points on 22% shooting in Georgia Southern's 44-43 over Louisiana-Monroe in the semifinals. Georgia Southern was in a tight race for the regular season title all year long but it was Georgia State who was finally able to capture the conference in the last week of the season.
An interesting story for the Panthers coming into this season was the acquisition of Kevin Ware from Louisville. Ware looked to revive his college career after suffering a gruesome broken leg injury in the 2013 NCAA Tournament. He is now averaging 7 PPG, 3 RPG, and 2 APG for Georgia State. He also played his high school basketball at Rockdale County in Conyers, Georgia.
Georgia State displayed dominance in the conference over the course of this season as they went 15-5. The Panthers started the season 1-2 with loses coming against NCAA Tournament teams such as Colorado State and #14 Iowa State. They would go on to win eight out of their next 10 games.
R.J Hunter leads Georgia State in scoring at 20 PPG. He put up 32 points on Louisiana-Lafayette to earn an 83-79 win in the semifinals. Hunter is projected to be a late first round/early second round NBA Draft prospect.
Georgia State and Georgia Southern now meet for the third time to decide the Sun Belt Conference Tournament and who earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Both teams have been phenomenal this season so there is a debate as to if both should make the big dance regardless of the outcomes today.
Georgia State and Georgia Southern meet once again to decide who the "real GSU" is. Southern beat State at home in the first matchup and State then won at home in Atlanta a week ago to capture the Sun Belt regular season title at 22-9.