Maryland Holds Off Georgia State to Win Freedom Bowl Tournament

Jerrod Mustaf, a 6-foot 10-inch freshman forward who acts as point guard for Maryland, showed some nice outside shooting to go with some sharp ballhandling Saturday night in the UC Irvine Bren Center.

And, as it turned out, the Terrapins needed all the offense they could get to hang on for a 69-62 victory over Georgia State in the championship game of the Western Digital Freedom Bowl tournament.

Mustaf scored 15 of his team-leading 19 points in the second half after sitting on the bench most of the first half because of foul trouble.

“Once we got Jerrod back in the game, we got a little breathing room,” Maryland Coach Bob Wade said. “He gave us the spark we needed. They were sagging inside, and Jerrod was able to hit that little 17-foot jumper at the top of the key.”

Maryland (2-0) led, 31-28, at halftime, but the Crimson Panthers (1-1), picked by most experts to finish last in the Trans America Conference, played tough in the second half. Keven Davis led Georgia State with 14 points, and Lanard Copeland finished with 12.