The Georgia St. Panthers started out slowly against NAIA Southern Poly on Saturday, but blew the game open in the second half to earn the 86-58 win. GSU held the Hornets to only 23 points in the second half, and took advantage of a travel schedule that left Southern Poly with a short bench and tired legs. Even though they walked away with the comfortable win, Georgia State head coach Ron Hunter wasn't happy with the team's first half performance:

"The second half if the kind of energy and defense we should be playing," coach Ron Hunter said. "We won’t make excuses for why we didn’t want to play in the first half defensively. We acted like we were still taking finals, which we are."

The Panthers held the Hornets to 34.5 percent shooting, and out-rebounded them 41-24. Hunter singled out center James Vincent as having a particularly good game defensively, and praised the energy he brought to the floor. Vincent finished with seven points, 12 rebounds and also chipped in with three blocks.

Georgia State next plays on Saturday, Dec. 15, when it travels to Troy to take on the Trojans. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.