Georgia St. beats Troy St.

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Posted 5:55AM on Thursday, January 3, 2002

ATLANTA - After the first five minutes, Georgia State solved the riddle of Troy State's Robert Rushing. After that, Panther guard Lamont McIntosh had the game under control. Georgia State extended its home winning streak to 24 games behind a career-high 25 points from Lamont McIntosh in an 84-67 victory over Troy State Wednesday. McIntosh scored 17 in the second half as Georgia State (7-4 overall, 3-1 Atlantic Sun Conference) turned a tight game into an easy win. Rushing hit two 3-pointers in the first five minutes as Troy (6-5, 2-2) surged to an early lead. The Trojans, who scored 101 points in a win over Hampton Dec. 30, hit 5-of-11 treys in the opening period but shot just 2-for-13 behind the arc in the second. ``When they're hitting threes they're tough to beat,'' said Georgia State coach Lefty Driesell. ``Defense was what won it for us. That team can score a lot of points.'' It was career win No. 769 for Driesell, fourth all-time and second among active coaches behind Texas Tech's Bob Knight, who has 774. In a game featuring the two preseason favorites in the conference, Georgia State shook off a cold shooting start to win. The Panthers scored just five points in the first five minutes and trailed by as many as eight points in the first half, but outscored Troy 15-2 over a five-minute stretch and led 39-36 at halftime. ``We were taking the threes instead of working inside,'' said Driesell. ``I just said to get the ball inside more.'' The Panthers extended their lead to 49-40 with a 10-4 run to open the second half, keyed by two free throws and a layup from McIntosh. Leroy Davis' 3-point shot with 6:12 left gave Georgia State a 67-52 lead, and Troy State got no closer than 10 after that. The Panthers' biggest lead came at 79-62 with 1:10 remaining on a pair of free throws by Darryl Cooper. Lamayn Wilson scored 20 points for Troy State. Robert Rushing scored 10 points in the first five minutes and finished with 18.