Georgia State 71, Towson 69
R.J. Hunter had 18 of his 27 points in the second half and teammate Devonta White added 14 as Georgia State held on to beat Towson 71-69 Monday in a Colonial Athletic Association contest in Towson, Md.
Towson (10-10, 5-2 in the CAA) was led by Jerelle Benimon, who had 18 points and 10 rebounds. Jerome Hairston added 16 points and Mike Burwell had 15 for the Tigers, who had won five of their past six games.
Georgia State (9-11, 4-3) took a 68-64 lead on a 3-pointer by Hunter with 2:41 left in the game.
Bilal Dixon of Towson made a basket with 2:11 to go to trim the lead to 68-66, but on the Tigers' next possession, Burwell missed a 3-pointer that would have given Towson the lead.
Hunter hit a 3-pointer with 1:07 left to make it 71-67, and a field goal by Hairston cut the deficit to 71-69 with 46 seconds to go.
Hunter missed a 3-pointer with 18 seconds left, but Marcus Damas missed a 3-pointer with one second to go that would have won the game for Towson.
Georgia State led 33-31 at halftime as Hunter had nine points had White had seven for the visitors.
Benimon now has 14 double-doubles, the most in Division I. He entered the game with double-doubles in the last five games, the first Towson player do that since 1977
Towson was seeking its best start to a season since 1995-96, but is still among the league leaders after winning just one game last season.
Next up for Towson is a home game Wednesday against George Mason while Georgia State hosts UNC-Wilmington on Wednesday.
