ATLANTA – Miles Kelly knocked down a floating layup with 4.1 seconds left to break a 57-all tie, lifting Georgia Tech to a 59-57 victory over cross-town rival Georgia State Saturday night at the GSU Convocation Center.
The winning shot from Kelly, a sophomore from Stone Mountain, Ga., capped a 15-point night which included a pair of big three-point baskets in the latter part of the second half. It gave the Yellow Jackets to their first 2-0 start since the 2019-20 season, and a triumph in their first game on the Panthers’ home court since 2007.
It also staved off a third overtime game in the last three years between the two teams. Tech split the first two games, dropping a 123-120, four-overtime contest in 2020, and won 72-62 in overtime last season, both of which were played at McCamish Pavilion, the Yellow Jackets’ home arena.
Both teams played sluggishly on offense in the first half, which ended with the Panthers leading by one, 26-25, but found their footing after intermission. GSU big man Ja-Heim Hudson scored 14 of his game-high 23 points in the second period and helped the Panthers open their largest lead at 42-35 with 12:17 remaining.
Tech battled back to tie the score at 47-all on the first of Kelly’s threes at the 7:29 mark, and scored the next eight points to forge its greatest advantage at 55-47 with 2:50 remaining. Kelly nailed his second three and fellow sophomore Jalon Moore scored five points during the run.
True to form, the Panthers scored the next seven points to get within one at 55-54 with 59 seconds left. Moore made two more free throws for a 57-54 Tech lead with 36 seconds remaining, but GSU’s Brenden Tucker drove for a layup and was fouled, making the tying free throw with 26 seconds to go.
Tech played for the last shot. Kelly then brought the ball up the floor, ran the clock down under 10 seconds, then made his move against the Panthers’ Dwon Odom, getting past him on the right side of the lane and floating his bank shot off the glass for the lead. Georgia State got the ball into the front court after a timeout, but could not get off a shot as time expired.
Deebo Coleman led the Yellow Jackets with 16 points, establishing career highs at the free throw line (9-of-13), while Moore finished the game with seven points and seven rebounds.
Jamaine Mann (13 points) and Odom (10) also reached double figures for Georgia State.
Tech returns home for its next game Thursday at 8 p.m. against Northern lllinois at McCamish Pavilion. The game will be televised on the ACC Network.