Category: College

By Bret Strelow for App State Sports. BOONE, N.C. — App State’s Jon Jon Millner flashed four fingers on each hand as he exited the mat following another conference title.

Millner’s swan song in a dominant SoCon career contributed to another team championship in a dominant 2022-23 season for head coach JohnMark Bentley’s program.

Millner (149 pounds), Caleb Smith (125) and Tommy Askey (157) won individual championships Saturday in Boone as the Mountaineers produced eight finalists at the 10 weight classes and claimed the team tournament title with 103.0 points, or 24.5 more than second-place Campbell’s total.

Will Miller (who earned the SoCon’s second automatic NCAA Championships berth at 174 pounds), Ethan Oakley (133), Will Formato (165), Carson Floyd (197) and Jacob Sartorio (heavyweight) also made finals as App State finished with the largest winning point margin since 2013. Heath Gonyer took third at 141, and Luke Uliano was fourth at 184.

No. 20 App State went 8-0 in SoCon duals and clinched its first title sweep since 2018, the year before the tournament started its current run of being held at the Holmes Center.

Millner cemented his status as the King of Holmes with his fourth straight conference title in the building, part of a 41-0 career record in SoCon duals and tournament matches — the highest win total with no losses in the league’s modern history.

One of just four wrestlers to be a four-time All-SoCon pick, Millner became the first four-time tournament champion since Chattanooga’s Nick Soto (2012-15).

Millner’s unbeaten mark in SoCon matches during his career included a 30-0 dual record and 11-0 tournament record. Soto totaled a 34-0 mark in SoCon matches, and four-time All-SoCon selection Leslie Apedoe of VMI totaled a 26-0 record in SoCon matches from 1996-99.

Thanks to the big lead that App State established through the quarterfinal, semifinal and consolation rounds, the night session was another coronation from a team standpoint.

App State went 10-0 in the quarterfinal round and stood at 20-2 in individual matches heading to the third-place bouts. With the eight finalists who won semifinal matches, compared to four from Campbell and three from two other schools, App State had 87.0 points to lead by 36.0 going into the consolation matchups.

App State’s unblemished quarterfinal run included pins from Millner and Floyd along with two tech falls, two major decisions and four decisions.

Millner added another first-period pin in the semifinal round and needed just 12 seconds to record a takedown of Chattanooga’s Noah Castillo en route to a 4-0 win the final.

In a 6-3 finals decision against Presbyterian’s Dominic Chavez, Smith gave up the first takedown before taking a 3-2 lead on a first-period takedown and finishing the period on top. He started the second period with an escape and added a critical takedown with four seconds left in that period.

In his 5-1 title win against Davidson’s Tanner Peake, Askey took a 2-1 lead on a takedown midway through the second period. He added a final takedown with 33 seconds left in the third period.

The Mountaineers have four wrestlers who already have earned their way into NCAA brackets for the event in Tulsa, Okla., from March 16-18. Oakley and Formato are ranked wrestlers with the best chances of receiving at-large bids.

After a 2-0 start, Oakley dropped a 4-3 nailbiter to Brayden Palmer in the 133 final and lost 6-3 to Campbell’s Dom Zaccone. A first-period takedown was the difference in Formato’s 3-1 loss to Gardner-Webb’s RJ Mosley in the 165 final.

The semifinal round featured a pair of dramatic wins from the Mountaineers.

Oakley fell behind 5-4 in the third period against Gardner-Webb’s Todd Carter before producing a tying escape with 1:13 left. Oakley turned defense into offense to deliver a tiebreaking takedown with 22 seconds remaining, and staying on top allowed him to push riding time over a minute in an 8-5 victory.

Another semifinal highlight was Sartorio’s 4-2 decision against second-seeded Jonathan Chesser, who had pinned Sartorio in the App State heavyweight’s dual debut earlier this season. Sartorio followed that outcome by going 7-1 to finish the regular season.

He used a second-period reversal against Chesser from The Citadel to lead 2-0 and added a takedown late in the period to move ahead 4-1.

Of the non-finalists, the third-seeded Gonyer went 3-1 to secure third place at 141 and the fourth-seeded Uliano went 2-2 to place fourth in a 184-pound bracket with three ranked wrestlers.

125: #1 Caleb Smith, App State
QF: W (TF, 16-1) vs. #8 Devon Diaco, Davidson
SF: W (Dec, 8-1) vs. #4 Drew West, Gardner-Webb
Final: W (Dec, 6-3) vs. #2 Dominic Chavez, Presbyterian

133: #1 Ethan Oakley, App State
QF: W (Dec, 4-1) vs. #8 Dyson Dunham, VMI
SF: W (Dec, 8-5) vs. #4 Todd Carter, Gardner-Webb
Final: L (Dec, 4-3) vs. #3 Brayden Palmer, UTC
True 2nd-place match: L (Dec, 6-3) vs. #2 Dom Zaccone, Campbell

141: #3 Heath Gonyer, App State
QF: W (Dec, 9-4) vs. #6 Freddy Junko, VMI
SF: L (Dec, 8-1) vs. #2 Zach Price, Gardner-Webb
Conso Semi: W (Dec, 4-0) vs. #4 Franco Valdes, UTC
3rd-place match: W (Dec, 8-4) vs. #5 Jacob Silka, The Citadel

149: #1 Jon Jon Millner, App State
QF: W (Fall, 2:00) vs. #8 Parker Corwin, Gardner-Webb
SF: W (Fall, 1:46) vs. #4 Ryan Vigil, VMI
Final: W (Dec, 4-0) vs. #2 Noah Castillo, UTC

157: #1 Tommy Askey, App State
QF: W (TF, 17-2) vs. #8 Michael Ramirez, Presbyterian
SF: W (MD, 14-5) vs. #5 Job Chishko, VMI
Final: W (Dec, 6-2) vs. #3 Tanner Peake, Davidson

165: #1 Will Formato, App State
QF: W (MD, 10-1) vs. #8 Brodie Porter, The Citadel
SF: W (Dec, 4-1) vs. #4 Dom Baker, Campbell
Final: L (Dec, 3-1) vs. #2 RJ Mosley, Gardner-Webb

174: #2 Will Miller, App State
QF: W (MD, 13-3) vs. #7 Zach Wells, Presbyterian
SF: W (Dec, 5-1) vs. #3 Ben Haubert, The Citadel
Final: L (Dec, 4-2) vs. #1 Rocky Jordan, UTC

184: #5 Luke Uliano, App State
QF: W (Dec, 3-0) vs. #4 Cordel Duhart, Presbyterian
SF: L (Dec, 3-0) vs. #1 Caleb Hopkins, Campbell
Conso Semi: W (Dec, 3-0) vs. #6 Tim Fitzpatrick, The Citadel
3rd-place match: L (Dec, 4-3) vs. #3 Matthew Waddell, UTC

197: #2 Carson Floyd, App State
QF: W (Fall, 3:11) vs. #7 Gavin Henry, Davidson
SF: W (MD, 15-5) vs. #6 Malcolm Wiley, Presbyterian
Final: L (Dec, 3-1) vs. #1 Levi Hopkins, Campbell

HWT: #3 Jacob Sartorio, App State
QF: W (Dec, 7-1) vs. #6 Jake Fernicola, Davidson
SF: W (Dec, 4-2) vs. #2 Jonathan Chesser, The Citadel
Final: L (Fall, 1:42) vs. #1 Taye Ghadiali, Campbell

By David Rogers. PENSACOLA, Fla. — It started as a near rout and ended that way. In between, the second round matchup of No. 10 seeded Appalachian State and No. 7 Louisiana was a see-saw, defensive battle. Strong offensive production by the Mountaineers at the beginning and end, though, led to a convincing, 51-38 upset victory.

The Mountaineers’ offensive production throughout was reasonably balanced, with four players over or near double figures, scoring. Janay Sanders and Emily Carver tied for team-high and game-high scoring honors, while Chae Harris leveraged 3-for-3 shooting from beyond the 3-point arc to record an 11-point contribution in coming off the bench. With 8 points, Faith Alston was close behind in the scoring column. Alston made her presence felt in other ways, too, including a team-high 8 rebounds, team-high 3 assists, and threw in a steal for good measure.

Both teams struggled offensively in the first half, but the Ragin’ Cajuns even more so in facing App State’s troublesome zone defense. The Mountaineers led 13-4 at the end of the first quarter.

Overlapping the quarter break, Louisiana went more than seven minutes in the first half without scoring another point, once they reached four. Ultimately, though, the Ragin’ Cajuns outpointed the Mountaineers, 10-8 in the second period to close the early deficit, but only by a little bit.

There were times in the first half when it appeared the Mountaineers and Ragin’ Cajuns were trying to outdo each other in who could run in transition the fastest — without scoring. Eventually, things settled down to a more comfortable pace.

Neither team was particularly effective from behind the 3-point arc other than Harris’ 3-for-3 shooting from 3-point land. Harris had half of App State’s six successful 3-point tries in 22 attempts, while Louisiana was just 1-for-13 from long distance — and that was a dramatic, desperation heave from half court by Destiny Rice as the first half buzzer was sounding. From the middle of the floor, the ball bounced off the glass and dropped cleanly through the net, shrinking the halftime gap from 10 points to 7 in the blink of an eye.

After halftime, the Mountaineers never lost command of the game. They edged the Louisiana bunch in the third quarter, 15-14, then outpointed them 15-10 in the final period to put the game away.

Lousiana’s Lanay Wheaton tied for game-high scoring honors with 12, while teammate Tamara Johnson pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds and poached a pair of steals.

With the upset win, App State advances to the quarterfinal round to face No. 2 seed, Texas State. That game will be played at the Pensacola Bay Center on Friday, March 3, 8:30 p.m Eastern Standard Time and televised on ESPN+.

By Bret Strelow for App State Sports. BOONE, N.C. — The SoCon Championship brackets were released Wednesday with an App State wrestler seeded No. 1 at half of the 10 weights.

The 20th-ranked Mountaineers went 8-0 in SoCon duals and possess five individuals who went unbeaten in league duals during the regular season to earn top seeds: Caleb Smith (8-0 at 125 pounds), Ethan Oakley (7-0 at 133 pounds), Jon Jon Millner (8-0 at 149 pounds), Tommy Askey (8-0 at 157 pounds) and Will Formato (8-0 at 165 pounds).

Will Miller (174 pounds) and true freshman Carson Floyd (197 pounds) are seeded No. 2 in their brackets thanks to 7-1 records in SoCon duals. Heath Gonyer (6-2 at 141 pounds) and Jacob Sartorio (4-2 at heavyweight) are No. 3 seeds, while redshirt freshman Luke Uliano (5-3 at 184 pounds) is seeded fifth despite having the fourth-best record in a bracket with three ranked upperclassmen.

The SoCon Championship will run all day Saturday at the Holmes Convocation Center in Boone, with doors opening at 9 a.m. and competition starting at 10 a.m. Semifinals are tentatively scheduled for noon, followed by consolation matches at 2:30 p.m. and consolation finals at 5:30 p.m. before the championship finals begin at 7 p.m.

There will be eight-man brackets at each weight — there are nine teams in the SoCon, but Bellarmine is not eligible for postseason competition yet.

Each champion in the 10 weight classes Saturday will qualify automatically for the NCAA Championships that will be held from March 16-18 in Tulsa, Okla. Based on pre-allocations from the NCAA, the SoCon’s second-place finishers at 133 pounds and 174 pounds will also qualify automatically — if a runner-up hasn’t faced the third-place finisher in a bracket, they meet after the championship finals to determine a true second place at that weight.

There are typically four to five NCAA at-large berths for each weight class — openings for ranked wrestlers who don’t qualify automatically.

The SoCon has as many as three ranked wrestlers at two weights: 133 pounds and 184 pounds.

That means ranked wrestlers from Campbell and Chattanooga could potentially meet in a semifinal on the opposite half of the bracket from the top-seeded Oakley. At 184, the top seeds in front of Uliano are No. 1 seed Caleb Hopkins of Campbell (ranked No. 30), No. 2 seed Jha’Quan Anderson of Gardner-Webb (ranked No. 33) and No. 3 seed Matthew Waddell of Chattanooga (ranked No. 28).

The SoCon weight classes with two ranked wrestlers are 125, 141 and 165.

WEIGHT CLASS SEEDS

125 (1 NCAA allocation)
#1 Caleb Smith, App State
#2 Dominic Chavez, Presbyterian
#3 Anthony Molton, Campbell
#4 Drew West, Gardner-Webb
#5 Blair Orr, The Citadel
#6 Logan Ashton, UTC
#7 Tony Burke, VMI
#8 Devon Diaco, Davidson

133 (2 NCAA allocations)
#1 Ethan Oakley, App State
#2 Dom Zaccone, Campbell
#3 Brayden Palmer, UTC
#4 Todd Carter, Gardner-Webb
#5 George Rosas, The Citadel
#6 Jackson Sichelstiel, Davidson
#7 Jake Brasseur, Presbyterian
#8 Dyson Dunham, VMI

141 (1 NCAA allocation)
#1 Shannon Hanna, Campbell
#2 Zach Price, Gardner-Webb
#3 Heath Gonyer, App State
#4 Franco Valdes, UTC
#5 Jacob Silka, The Citadel
#6 Freddy Junko, VMI
#7 Trent Donahue, Presbyterian
#8 Josh Viarengo, Davidson

149 (1 NCAA allocation)
#1 Jon Jon Millner, App State
#2 Noah Castillo, UTC
#3 Chris Rivera, Campbell
#4 Ryan Vigil, VMI
#5 Ethan Willis, The Citadel
#6 Noah Frack, Davidson
#7 Khalid Brinkley, Presbyterian
#8 Parker Corwin, Gardner-Webb

157 (1 NCAA allocation)
#1 Tommy Askey, App State
#2 Troy Nation, Campbell
#3 Tanner Peake, Davidson
#4 Lincoln Heck, UTC
#5 Job Chishko, VMI
#6 Anthony Allen, The Citadel
#7 Tyler Brignola, Gardner-Webb
#8 Michael Ramirez, Presbyterian

165 (1 NCAA allocation)
#1 Will Formato, App State
#2 RJ Mosley, Gardner-Webb
#3 Weston Wichman, UTC
#4 Dom Baker, Campbell
#5 Braxton Lewis, VMI
#6 Bryce Sanderlin, Davidson
#7 Tyler Chittum, Presbyterian
#8 Brodie Porter, The Citadel

174 (2 NCAA allocations)
#1 Rocky Jordan, UTC
#2 Will Miller, App State
#3 Ben Haubert, The Citadel
#4 Jon Hoover, VMI
#5 Jaden Hardrick, Davidson
#6 Cole Rees, Campbell
#7 Zach Wells, Presbyterian
#8 Andrew Wilson, Gardner-Webb

184 (1 NCAA allocation)
#1 Caleb Hopkins, Campbell
#2 Jha’Quan Anderson, Gardner-Webb
#3 Matthew Waddell, UTC
#4 Cordel Duhart, Presbyterian
#5 Luke Uliano, App State
#6 Tim Fitzpatrick, The Citadel
#7 Zach Brown, VMI
#8 Cameo Blankenship, Davidson

197 (1 NCAA allocation)
#1 Levi Hopkins, Campbell
#2 Carson Floyd, App State
#3 Sam Mora, Gardner-Webb
#4 Tyler Mousaw, VMI
#5 Jake Boyd, UTC
#6 Malcolm Wiley, Presbyterian
#7 Gavin Henry, Davidson
#8 Mark Chaid, The Citadel

285 (1 NCAA allocations)
#1 Taye Ghadiali, Campbell
#2 Jonathan Chesser, The Citadel
#3 Jacob Sartorio, App State
#4 Logan Andrew, UTC
#5 Josh Evans, VMI
#6 Jake Fernicola, Davidson
#7 Abraham Preston, Gardner-Webb
#8 Morvens Saint Jean, Presbyterian

By David Rogers. GREENSBORO, N.C. — Relief pitcher Zach Lewis only faced five batters on Feb. 26, but picked up the win after Appalachian State’s 4-hit, 4-run scoring outburst in the top of the 10th inning at War Memorial Stadium against North Carolina A & T. The 11-7 victory moved the Mountaineers to 7-0, the team’s best start since a 10-0 start to the 2010 season.

In the top half of the 10th inning, with the scored tied 7-7, Alex Reed reached first base on a fielding error by the Aggies after Luke Drumheller had opened with a fly out to center field. With pinch runner Vasili Kaloudis drifting off first, Dylan Rogers chopped an infield single to the A & T second baseman, Kaloudis advancing to second.  When Hunter Wilder singled through the right side, Kaloudis and Rogers took third and second, respectively, to load the bases and set up the drama to come.

Jonathan Xuereb followed with what proved to be the winning RBIs, with a sharp single through the right side, scoring Kaloudis from third and Rogers from second, while Wilder was held at second base. Although Andrew Terrell popped to first base for the inning’s second out, Xavier Moronta smacked a 2-RBI double to centerfield, scoring both Xuereb and Wilder.

Although Austin St. Laurent struck out looking to end the inning, the damage had been done with the Mountaineers 4-run explosion.

Lewis had faced only one batter in the bottom of the 9th inning, entering the game as App State’s fifth pitcher of the day and gaining a full count strikeout. In the bottom of the 10th inning, the second batter he faced got on base when he was hit by a pitch, but Lewis and the Mountaineer defense dispatched the other three batters he faced with a ground out, a strike out, and a final pop up to shortstop for the last out.

The Aggies actually opened the game with a 2-run first inning 1-run third to take an early, 3-0 lead, but App State tied the game with three runs in the top of the 4th beginning with a one-out rally. A single by Laurent, a Hayden Cross triple, and a single by Luke Drumheller brought home the first two runs, before Rogers drilled a 2-out double to left centerfield, scoring Drumheller to even things up.

Any Mountaineer relief was short-lived as NC A&T scored two more runs in the bottom of the 4th inning and added another in the bottom of the 6th to give the Aggies a 6-3 lead. App State manufactured one run in the 7th inning to narrow the deficit, then jumped ahead with three runs in the top of the 8th inning on a 3-RBI home run by Rogers, giving the boys from Boone a slim, one-run lead, 7-6.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Aggies sent six batters to the plate to produce one run, tying the game, while the Mountaineers deployed three pitchers in the inning, the last being Lewis for the final out.

Both teams were held scoreless in the ninth inning, sending the game into extra innings tied at 7-7.

To earn the win, App State rapped out 14 hits to score those 11 runs, while defensively committing only one fielding error. Rogers was the leading producer on offense with a double, a home run and 4 RBIs. Jonathan Xuereb contributed with a double and two RBIs, going 2-5 on the day, while Drumheller also went 2-5 with a double and 1 RBI. Moronta only had one hit in five at-bats, but his offensive production still proved valuable with a double and three RBIs.

Ryan Sleeper started the game on the mound for the Mountaineers, lasting just 3.1 innings while giving up 5 runs on 6 hits, all earned runs, with four strikeouts. Collin Welch was the first pitcher in relief, going four innings while giving up 2 hits and 2 runs (only one earned), striking out three batters he faced.

The Mountaineers travel to Johnson City on Feb. 28 for a tilt against the host East Tennessee State Buccaneers. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.

By Bobby Neal for App State Sports. WILMINGTON, N.C. — App State softball improved its weekend record to 3-0 on Feb. 25, completing the season sweep over Georgetown with a 3-1 victory before knocking down UNCW, 6-4.

The Mountaineers tallied four home runs on the day while striking out 10 batters. They posted 21 total runs compared to their opponents’ 11. Kaley Coltrain was the player of the day, bombing back-to-back home runs in App State’s rally against the Seahawks.

Game 1 Recap (App State 3, Georgetown 1)

The Mountaineers earned three runs on nine hits to start their Saturday, beginning on the fourth pitch of the game when Kayt Houston homered to center field to give her team a 1-0 advantage.

The Black & Gold allowed no hits through the first two innings with Sejal Neas in the circle. Neas struck out five batters and pitched all seven, improving to 2-1 on the season.

The next run of the game came in the fourth inning when the Mountaineers made noise at the plate. After two batters were put out, Mary Pierce Barnes singled to third base with a bunt before Kylie LaRousa sent App State’s second home run past the fence, increasing the lead to three.

Georgetown’s Kayla Dunn responded with a home run to open the bottom of the fourth inning in what would be the only score for the Hoyas. The Mountaineers allowed only one more hit through the last four innings, also by Dunn.

Barnes and Emily Parrott led the way in the hits column with two apiece.

McKenzie McCullen punched 11 of App State’s 21 putouts from first base.

Across two games over the weekend, App State out-ran Georgetown, 6-1. The Mountaineers allowed only two runs through four games (Seton Hall, Presbyterian, Georgetown [x2]).

Game 2 Recap (App State 6, UNCW 4)

The Black & Gold posted their third straight win in dramatic fashion during their second game of the day, scoring five unanswered runs to flip a two-score deficit.

App State’s offense started the game strong as Parrott singled down the left field line to open the first. McCullen followed that hit with a single that brought in her teammate, giving the Mountaineers a 1-0 advantage that lasted until the bottom of the fourth.

After allowing only two hits through the first three innings, the App State defense gave up a three-run homer by UNCW’s Morgan Britt, giving the Seahawks a two-run lead.

At the top of the fifth, App State needed momentum, and Coltrain delivered. The graduate student slammed her first home run as a Mountaineer to open the inning.

In the next inning, Houston continued the scoring momentum with a two-run single to put her team back on top. Coltrain homered once again in the very next at-bat.

Each team would record one more hit as App State remained perfect for the weekend.
Coltrain, Houston, Taylor Thorp and Addie Wray each had two hits in the second game of the day, leading the team that had 12 against the hosting Seahawks.

Kaylie Northrop pitched a complete game and punched five strikeouts.

Up Next
The Mountaineers will finish the weekend on the coast with a pair of games on Sunday. App State will match up with Eastern Washington at 9 a.m. before rematching UNCW at 2 p.m.

By Matt Present for App State Sports. GREENSBORO, N.C. — Hayden Cross drove in the tying run in the sixth inning and the go-ahead run in the eighth, as the Mountaineers rallied past North Carolina A&T for a 9-8 win, improving their record to 6-0 to start the season.

Cross finished the game with four hits and two RBIs, notching his second four-hit game of the season to match his career-high. Hunter Wilder added four RBIs, while Dante Chirico picked up the win in relief.

Tied at 8-8 in the eighth inning, Andrew Terrell was hit by a pitch to open the frame. After a pair of strikeouts, Cross belted an RBI double to score Terrell from first base, and put the Mountaineers in the lead.

App State entered the sixth inning trailing. 8-7. Terrell led off with a bunt single, and then stole second to get into scoring position. With two outs in the frame, Cross delivered a single up the middle, scoring Terrell, and tying the score at 8-8.

The Mountaineers came up in the clutch throughout the ballgame, going 5-for-10 with runners in scoring position, and 8-for-16 in two-out situations.

App State jumped out to a big lead early, sending ten men to the plate in the top of the first inning and scoring five runs. Austin St. Laurant began the two-out rally as he was hit by a pitch, and Cross followed with a single to center field. Luke Drumheller, who finished with a three-hit game, followed with a single to load the bases. Golston Gillespie delivered a two-run single to open the scoring, and after a Dylan Rogers walk, Wilder followed with a two-run single of his own.

After the Aggies answered with a four-run first inning, App State struck for a pair of runs in the third on a two-run single from Wilder to score Drumheller and Rogers, who reached on a single and an error respectively, making it 7-4 App State.

The Aggies scored three more runs in the bottom of the third to tie the score, chasing starter Bradley Wilson from the ballgame. Chirico (win, 1-0) was excellent in relief, tossing 4.2 innings, allowing just one run on three hits, while striking out five.

Caleb Cross (save, 1) recorded a six-out save, retiring all six batters he faced, including a pair of strikeouts.

App State is now 6-0 for the first time since 2010 when they opened the campaign 10-0 to begin the year.

The Mountaineers will go for the sweep on Sunday when they send lefty Ryan Sleeper (0-0, 0.00) to the mound to face off with Aggies right-hander Ja’Heim Brown (0-0, 0.00) in the finale at 1 p.m. on Sunday. The game will be streamed on Flo Baseball.

By Bobby Neal for App State Sports. STATESBORO, Ga. – In a game that saw 13 lead changes and eight ties, the App State men’s basketball team fell to Georgia Southern on Feb. 24, 64-73.

All eight Mountaineers who entered the game contributed to the offense while three scored in double figures. Donovan Gregory led the way with 14 points, five rebounds and a steal.
Gregory and CJ Huntley scored App State’s first 14 points as the Black & Gold jumped out to an early lead.

10 minutes into the contest, Tamell Pearson scored six unanswered points on the block through three consecutive possessions to give his team an eight-point advantage. Pearson finished with 11 points and five rebounds.

The Sun Belt’s top defense held Georgia Southern without a field goal for five minutes leading up to the six-minute mark. The Eagles gained momentum in the final moments before the break, tying the game at 29.

Harcum scored eight points in the first four minutes of the second half as the teams traded buckets for the majority of the final period.

With 12 minutes to go, Pearson hit his first 3-pointer as a Mountaineer to give App State a 50-43 lead. Georgia Southern’s Jalen Finch responded with three consecutive shots from beyond the arc.

Justin Abson blocked his third shot with four minutes to go, increasing his season total to 69, passing Ricky Nedd (67, 1992-93) for the second-most blocks by an App State player in a season.

Gregory scored seven of his 14 in the game’s final minutes as his team took its final lead at the 3:25 mark before playing the foul game.

App State finished its regular season with a record of 16-15 and split its conference games, 9-9.

UP NEXT/SUN BELT TOURNAMENT DETAILS

The Mountaineers finished in ninth place in the Sun Belt, receiving a first-round bye for the SBC Tournament. The Black & Gold will play their first postseason game on Thursday, Mar. 2, against South Alabama at 12:30 p.m. ET. The tournament will take place at the Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Fla. and all games will be streamed live on ESPN+.

By Katherine Jamtgaard for App State Sports. BOONE, N.C. – The App State women’s basketball team defeated ULM 77-63 in its regular season finale on Feb. 24, while honoring Brooke Bigott, A’Lea Gilbert, Janay Sanders and Summer Schloss for Senior Day.

Five Mountaineers recorded double-figure points, led by Sanders’ 15. Sophomore Zada Porter posted her first career double-double, scoring 12 points and pulling down a team-high 10 rebounds. Gilbert and junior Faith Alston netted 11 points each, and freshman Chaé Harris recorded 10 points. Porter and Alston led the team in assists, dishing out four each.

The Mountaineers broke their program record for 3-pointers made in a season, recording nine treys for a total of 223 this season. The previous record was 215, set during the 2018-19 season. App State caused 21 ULM turnovers, scoring 20 points off of those turnovers. The Mountaineers also held the Warhawks to three 3-pointers over the course of the game. Forty of the Black and Gold’s 77 points came from the bench.

Gilbert put App State on the board early with the Mountaineer’s 215th trey of the season, tying the previous program record. Not long after, Porter sunk a 3-point bucket, pushing App State over the record’s edge. Senior Taylor Lewis and Harris drilled back-to-back treys to put App State up 15-13 over ULM in the first period.

App State went on a 9-0 scoring run with contributions from Sanders, Gilbert, and Carver to take a 26-24 lead over the Warhawks. ULM tied things up at 26, but a layup from Porter gave App State a 28-26 edge. A Sanders layup and Alston trey put App State up 33-29 at the half.

Carver opened the third quarter with a trey to extend App State’s lead to 36-31. Gilbert and Sanders promptly added back-to-back layups that put App State up 40-35 over the Warhawks. As the Warhawks closed in on the Mountaineers’ lead, Harris landed a jumper to keep App State ahead 43-40. Carver sunk an effortless trey, which Alston followed up with a layup that extended App State’s lead to 51-43. As the Mountaineers faced a scoring drought, ULM cut the Mountaineers’ lead to one. With seven seconds remaining in the quarter, Porter got to the hoop for two. Harris was quick to jump in for a steal at three seconds, making a last-second layup to put App State up 55-50 at the end of the third period.

The Mountaineers came out hot in the final quarter as Harris drilled a 3-point bucket, which was followed by back-to-back layups from Gilbert and Porter. Frazier, Alston and Sanders contributed to an 8-0 scoring run that extended App State’s lead to 72-58. Bigott and Gilbert scored the Mountaineers’ final five points as they cruised to the home victory.

UP NEXT
The Mountaineers will head to Pensacola, Fla. for the Sun Belt Tournament, Feb. 28- March 6. The tournament bracket will be announced later this evening. App State is projected to take the No. 10 or No. 11 seed and holds the tiebreaker against the current 10th-place team, Arkansas State.

By Matt Present for App State Sports. HIGH POINT, N.C. – App State baseball improved to 5-0 for the first time since 2010, defeating North Carolina A&T 12-8 on Friday night at Truist Point, the professional home of the High Point Rockers.

Austin St. Laurent got the Mountaineers off to a fast start with a two-run double to help give the Mountaineers a 3-0 lead in the first, and they held a 12-1 advantage after seven innings.

Starting pitcher Xander Hamilton improved to 2-0 this season by allowing one run on five hits and striking out nine Aggie batters in 6.0 innings of work.

Hayden Cross led went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and one RBI, while App State also got multi-hit games from St. Laurent (2-for-5, two RBIs, one run scored), Andrew Terrell (2-for-4, two runs, two RBIs), Xavier Moronta (2-for-3, two runs scored, one RBI) and Dylan Rogers (2-for-3, two RBIs, two runs scored).

Singles by Terrell and Moronta preceded St. Laurent’s early double for a 2-0 lead, and he scored on a two-out single by Rogers.

The Mountaineers got the bats going again in the third inning with five runs on seven hits, as Golston Gillespie reached on a one-out double and scored on a Rogers single. Terrell followed an Alex Aguila double with a two-run single and scored on a Moronta single. Cross’ RBI single gave App State an 8-0 lead. It added three more runs in the sixth and one run in the seventh.

North Carolina A&T (3-2) started a late rally by scoring seven runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to cut the deficit to 12-8. Jake Beaty induced consecutive groundouts before Skylar Brooks, who entered with a four-run lead, ended the frame by forcing another groundout to strand one runner.

Brooks opened a scoreless ninth with a strikeout and allowed no runs in 1.1 innings.

App State will face off again with North Carolina A&T in game two of the series at War Memorial Stadium in Greensboro, N.C. tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. Right-hander Bradley Wilson will make the start for the Mountaineers. He will be opposed by lefty Daniel Carter.

STATISTICAL HIGHLIGHTS

• APP Hayden Cross (C): 3-5, 2 runs scored, 1 RBI, 2B
• APP Andrew Terrell (3B): 2-4, 2 runs scored, 2 RBIs, 1 stolen base
• APP Dylan Rogers (RF): 2-3, 2 runs scored, 2 RBIs
• APP Xavier Moronta (DH): 2-3, 2 runs scored, 1 RBI
• APP Xander Hamilton (SP): 6 IP, gave up 5 hits, 9 strikeouts, 1 earned run, faced 23 batters; picking up the win gets him to 2-0 on the season
• NAT Tre Williams (DH): 2-4, 1 run scored, 1 RBI
• NAT Cort Maynard (1B): 2-5, 1 run scored, 2 RBIs, 2B
• NAT Luke Brown (SP): 3 IP, gave up 8 earned runs, faced 22 batters, credited with loss, record goes to 0-1 on the season