It takes more than a nasal fracture and a concussion to stop Corey Allen.
In his second game back from missing three games after getting belted in the head against Richmond, the senior guard had his first career double-double to lead Georgia State to a 80-51 victory Monday over outmatched Vorhees College at GSU Sports Arena.
Allen had 11 points and a season high 13 rebounds and a career high eight assists in 26 minutes. He was 3-for-8 on 3-pointers, two of them coming in the opening minutes to set the pace, and helped the Panthers end a two-game losing streak.
“Corey has been all about getting better,” coach Rob Lanier said. “It started with his off-season, how hard he worked at changing his body, and there’s a level of commitment there for him to get better. ... For him to make a concerted effort to get other guys involved is a real credit to him. That really helped our team in the second half to start playing the right way because he spearheaded that.”
Georgia State (5-3) was back at full strength after last week’s COVID situation and now awaits the return of 6-foot-9 Eliel Nsoseme, who is expected back soon from a knee injury. Collin Moore, who has been rehabbing from an injury, returned for the first time.
Vorhees never got closer than 15 in the second half as the Panthers played well to keep the visitors at a safe distance. A late 18-3 run upped the lead to 33 points and put the game out of reach.
The Panthers emptied the bench and had five players score in double figures, with Justin Thomas (12), Justin Roberts (11), Evan Johnson (10) and Ja’Heim Hudson (10) joining Allen.
Kane Williams, who scored nine, was on the winning side for the 88th time, breaking the school record he had shared with Ryann Green and Chris Clerkley.
Vorhees (2-9) was led by Joell Davis with 12 points and six rebounds. Vorhees is an NAIA school located in Denmark, S.C. Head coach Cabral Huff has deep ties to the Atlanta area, having been the head coach at Duluth High School and Holy Innocents’ School. There are seven Georgia natives on the roster.
Georgia State took a 12-0 lead by making four 3-point baskets and did not allow Vorhees to score until 14:47. The Panthers led by as many as 19 after a 9-0 run punctuated by Allen’s jumper that made it 35-16 with 4:22 left. But GSU could not really bury the Tigers, who cut the lead to 13 and led 43-28 at halftime.
“Corey was a couple of steps away from a triple-double, which is a credit to him,” Lanier said. “He really tried to play the right way and play with energy, as did Kane. We had some guys a little bit too focused on trying to score because in a game like that, sometimes guys want to see the ball go through.”
Vorhees never got closer than 15 in the second half as the Panthers played well to keep the visitors at a safe distance. A late 18-3 run upped the lead to 33 points and put the game out of reach.
Lanier said the team responded from Saturday’s disappointing loss to Mercer with a spirited practice on Sunday and a spirited shoot-around on Monday. That energy carried over to the game.
“We went out and played with the same level of energy for a good part of the game,” Lanier said. “We had some droughts and some miscues, but all in all I’m happy for the guys that we got a chance to win. We’ve got a long way to go. We’re still a work in progress.”
Georgia State doesn’t play again until Dec. 14 when they travel to play Mississippi State.
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