ATLANTA - Jihad Ali scored a career-high 22 points, including the go-ahead three-pointer with 42 seconds left, as Georgia State knocked off George Mason, 61-57, Wednesday at the GSU Sports Arena.

Knocking off the Colonial Athletic Association's first-place team, the Panthers (10-14, 4-8 CAA) snapped a three-game skid while halting Mason's (15-8, 10-2 CAA) seven-game winning streak.

With GSU trailing 57-53 with under three minutes to play, Joe Dukes hit a pair of free throws to pull the Panthers within two with 2:37 left.
Ali rebounded a miss by Mason's Cam Long, but Dukes missed the front end of a one-and-one.

GSU forced another miss, and this time Ousman Krubally grabbed the defensive rebound. After a timeout, Dukes fed Ali in the corner for the trey to put the Panthers ahead, 58-57. After another stop by the Panthers, Krubally was fouled and sank both free throws for a 60-57 advantage with 20 seconds left.

Georgia State survived two more missed shots by the Patriots, and Dukes rebounded and hit a free throw with one second left for the final margin.

"I'm just thankful for this team. We lost three close ones on the road, but they kept fighting," said GSU head coach Rod Barnes.
"Jihad Ali hit a big shot for us, and at the end our defense got a couple of stops to close out the win. Down the stretch, I kept telling them, they have to believe they're going to win the game. And they did."
other scores:

Feb. 03 (MBB)
VCU 73
UNC Wilmington 60

Feb. 03 (MBB)
Old Dominion 61
William & Mary 42

Feb. 03 (MBB)
Hofstra 68
James Madison 48