Georgia State Basketball: Panthers Score 54-42 Victory Over Puntarenas in Costa Rica

PUNTARENAS, Costa Rica – Playing in an open-air arena and with temperatures in the mid-80s, Georgia State earned a 54-42 victory against Puntarenas on Saturday night in the second game of a four-game Costa Rican International Tour. Senior Ryan Harrow led the Panthers with 10 points while Kevin Ware, making his GSU-debut scored eight.

Ware, who transferred from Louisville in the offseason, finished with five steals, three rebounds and three assists.

Georgia State improved to 2-0 on the trip following a win on Friday night in Cartago.

Head coach Ron Hunter started R.J. Hunter, Ryan Harrow, Kevin Ware, Curtis Washington and Markus Crider, though most of his bench saw significant minutes.

“This was a good test for us in tough conditions,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “We were able to get our starters some good minutes, but at the same time saw what our bench can do as they continue to improve.”

The teams played by FIBA International Rules which included four 10-minute quarters. A 24-second shot clock was also in place.

Following a 19-point effort on Friday night, freshman Jeff Thomas added nine points and five rebounds.

Senior Curtis Washington also scored nine points while grabbing three rebounds and blocking a pair of shots.

R.J. Hunter, who played his first minutes of the trip hit a pair of 3-pointers and swiped three steals to go along with three assists.

Junior T.J. Shipes came off the bench to finish with six points and five rebounds.

Crider pulled down five rebounds in the win.

Earlier in the day, members of the team took part in a shoe distribution with Samaritan’s Feet. It was the first of two distributions on this trip with the second coming on Monday.

Make sure to visit the InsideGSUSports blog to see the photo album from Day 3.

The team will have the morning off before a 5 p.m. ET game against Juegos Nacionales in San Jose on Sunday.