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+.
