By David Rogers. PENSACOLA, Fla. — A Freddy Hicks buzzer-beater at the end of regulation thrust No. 4 seeded Arkansas State into the Sun Belt Conference Championship Tournament Final on March 11, upsetting heavily favored, No. 1 seeded Appalachian State, 67-65.

The underdog Red Wolves used a smaller, four-guard set against the Mountaineers, known for their dominance inside the paint with sometimes three big men on the floor at the same time. Even so, the ball seemed to bounce Arkansas State’s way, especially on the offensive end where they collected 14 offensive boards leading to 13 second chance points. Altogether, the Red Wolves out-rebounded App State, 36-27.

Improving on their turnovers from the quarterfinal game vs. Georgia Southern, five against Arkansas State compared to 17 against the Eagles, did not seem to help App State in this game. Even a 21-3 advantage in bench points faded in comparison to the Red Wolves tenacious and disruptive defensive effort, overall.

In the press conference after the game, Arkansas State head coach Bryan Hodgson acknowledged the imposing inside presence of the Mountaineers’ big men, but calculated that the App State perimeter shooting left them vulnerable to his sharpshooting guards.

The strategy worked in the first half, the Red Wolves taking a 10-point lead into the locker room at halftime. Mountaineer head coach Dustin Kerns revealed that the App State halftime adjustments included going to a four-guard set. It worked, as the Mountaineers clawed their way back to take the lead at 62-61 with just over four minutes remaining.

The Mountaineers’ last lead was 65-63 on a 3-point jumper off the hands of Myles Tate at the 2:33 mark but Arkansas State was able to tie the game on a layup by guard Caleb Fields with 2:16 left on the clock. That’s where the score stood, 65-65, until the last gasp buzzer beater by  Hicks.

Arkansas State now advances to Monday’s tournament championship game against the winner of the other semifinal between James Madison and Texas State.

App State’s 2023-24 season hangs in the balance, pending a potential NCAA bid based on the Sun Belt regular season championship and 27-win season.

CLICK HERE for Box Score

By Zach Smith. PENSACOLA, Fla. — March is known for upsets and wild endings in the college basketball world, and that proved true when App State faced Arkansas State in the Sun Belt Tournament semifinals March 10. The Mountaineers fell to the Red Wolves in heartbreaking fashion, 67-65.

Terence Harcum led the way for App State with 15 points. Myles Tate added 11 points off the bench and Justin Abson netted 10 to round out the Mountaineer scoring effort. Abson was App State’s top rebounder with seven boards, and Donovan Gregory dished out a team-best four assists.

Caleb Fields netted 23 points while distributing six assists, both team-highs for Arkansas State. Freddy Hicks followed up with a 19-point performance of his own, and Izaiyah Nelson grabbed a game-best 13 rebounds.

Both teams showed offensive struggles early, but Arkansas State began to pull away in the first half. The Red Wolves took control just under six minutes into the game, never relinquishing their lead over the final 14 minutes of the period. App State was not able to piece together more than four consecutive points in the first half, and entered the locker room trailing by 10.

The second half was nearly the opposite of the first. Playing from behind for nearly 30 straight minutes, the Mountaineers went on a 6-0 run to regain the lead with just under five on the clock. Following a pair of free-throws from Caleb Fields, Myles Tate drained a three-pointer to match App State’s game-high two-point lead. Fields responded with a game-tying layup with just over two minutes remaining before both teams went on scoring droughts. With 14 seconds on the clock, Arkansas State inbounded the ball following a timeout. The Red Wolves got the ball to Freddy Hicks, who hit a jumper as the buzzer sounded to deny the Mountaineers’ hopes of playing for a Sun Belt championship.

An emotional App State head coach Dustin Kerns shared a short statement on his team’s heartbreaking loss to Arkansas State.

“Heartbreaking loss for our program after a special season,” Kerns said. “Credit Arkansas State. They made plays when they needed to make them. It’s a tough way to lose.”

“I think everybody in our locker room is pretty heartbroken”

Kerns shared an insight on how the locker room felt following their semifinals loss.

“There’s a lot of emotions right now,” Kerns said. “I think everybody in our locker room is pretty heartbroken.”

First-year head coach Bryan Hodgson transformed Arkansas State’s basketball program from the No. 13 seed in last year’s Sun Belt Tournament to the No. 4 ranked team this year. Hogdson credited his team for that improvement.

“I’ve been a part of some really good basketball teams,” Hogdson said. “I’m not taking anything away from any of the teams I’ve coached in the past, but I don’t know if I’ve had a team in 15 years of coaching this game that’s grown as much as this team. The selflessness, the discipline, the attention to detail. It seems like it gets better and better every single game.”

Hogdson was sure to not understate how big of a win this was for his team.

“We just beat a really, really good basketball team,” Hogdson said. “Dustin Kerns is a great coach. Obviously Coach of the Year in this league, deservingly so. Undefeated at home. They’ve got wins over Auburn. They’ve got wins over several teams that are gonna play in the NCAA Tournament. That’s a team that not many people would wanna play in the NCAA Tournament.”

Freddy Hicks was the hero for Arkansas State, releasing the eventual game-winning shot with 0.3 seconds on the clock. Hicks explained what went into the final shot.

“My teammates just trusted me to make the right play at the end,” Hicks said. “I said I wanted the ball and they trusted me. We just ran a play and it just worked out. Anybody could have hit that shot.”

Hogdson gave Hicks praise for his motivation to take the game-winning shot.

“I’m gonna intervene there a little bit because [Hicks] is a humble dude,” Hogdson said. “We went into that timeout [with 14.6 seconds remaining] and he grabbed me and said ‘Coach give me the ball, I’m gonna win the basketball game.’ I’m not making that up. He said that to me about three times.”

Although they were on the wrong end of the final score, App State’s 49 percent shooting mark was higher than Arkansas State’s 44 percent clip. The Red Wolves were just the eighth team to out-rebound the Mountaineers this season, 36-27. The nine-rebound margin was the second-largest deficit on the boards App State saw in the 2023-24 campaign. 

Arkansas State moves on to the Sun Belt Championship Game for the first time since 2007. The Red Wolves will face the No. 2 seed James Madison March 11 at 6 p.m. Central (7 p.m. Eastern). The game will be broadcast in front of a national audience on ESPN.

App State’s Sun Belt Tournament hopes come to an end with their loss to Arkansas State. The Mountaineers look to Selection Sunday March 17, where they will find out if a bid to a postseason tournament awaits them.

By Bret Strelow. BOONE, N.C. — When the last-second call was upheld, an emotional Ethan Oakley rocked his neck back and covered his face with both hands.

When he dropped his hands, tears were visible in his eyes.

The drama was just starting, even with App State Wrestling well on its way to a dominant victory at the SoCon Championship tournament Saturday in the Holmes Center.

The Mountaineers repeated as tourney champs with five individual champions among the 10 weight classes, highlighted by final-second victories from Oakley at 133 pounds and true freshman Tomas Brooker at 184 pounds. Cody Bond (149 pounds), Tommy Askey (157 pounds) and Will Miller (165 pounds) also won individual titles to clinch automatic NCAA Championships bids for Kansas City as every App State starter posted a top-four finish.

Whether it was a combined nine pins and several other decisive wins leading to bonus points, or determined efforts in consolation brackets, it was a total team effort from the five champions, fellow finalist Jacob Sartorio, a pair of third-place finishers in Luke Uliano and Carson Floyd, plus fourth-place finishers Chad Bellis and Ike Byers.

The 24th-ranked Mountaineers totaled 114.0 points, 16.5 more than runner-up Campbell, which also had six finalists. SoCon Coach of the Year JohnMark Bentley guided App State to a fourth conference tournament title and an 11th league title overall, counting regular season races.

The second-seeded Oakley trailed 4-2 against top-seeded Dom Zaccone from Campbell in the closing moments before getting in on a shot with 25 seconds remaining and completing the takedown with one second left in a 5-4 victory.

His victory followed Bond’s 2-0 finals victory against The Citadel’s Jeff Boyd (to give the seventh-year senior his second career SoCon title) and Miller’s 8-3 decision against Campbell’s Dom Baker. Askey repeated as a SoCon champ with a 9-2 decision against Davidson’s Tanner Peake.

App State had clinched the team title by the time Brooker, a true freshman, took the mat against Campbell’s Caleb Hopkins, a three-time SoCon champion who had quickly pinned Brooker in their regular season meeting.

Starting the third period from a top position while facing a 3-0 deficit, Brooker was still on top when Hopkins was penalized a stalling point for the first time with 26 seconds remaining. Brooker tried to cut him loose immediately but brought him back down too quickly for an escape/takedown combo to be scored. Hopkins refused to return to his feet as Brooker tried to cut him loose again and was penalized again for stalling with five seconds left to make the score 3-2.

Hopkins returned to his feet, finally recording an escape 115 seconds into the period, and Brooker immediately went in for a takedown that he finished in the final second for an improbable victory. When the win was confirmed, Brooker walked to his corner and was lifted off his feet by assistant coach Randall Diabe while Bentley enthusiastically patted the unlikely champion on the back.

It was App State’s final victory in a day full of them.

App State went 9-1 in the quarterfinal round with four major decisions, one tech fall and four pins — from Bellis, Oakley, Askey and Floyd.

The Mountaineers then went 6-3 in their semifinal matches with one pin from Brooker, who followed a quarterfinal tech fall with a fall against Presbyterian’s Caleb Roe, who had an opening-round pin to stun second-seeded Jha’Quan Anderson from Gardner-Webb.

Oakley trailed 4-2 in a ranked semifinal against Chattanooga’s Blake Boarman before taking the lead on a takedown with 46 seconds left and finishing on top in a 5-4 victory. Bond turned defense to offense on a tiebreaking takedown with 1:25 left and finished on top, getting two back points in the process, to prevail 7-1 against Campbell’s Justin Rivera in their semifinal showdown.

Wrestling for the first time since hurting his knee significantly during an injury default on Feb. 18, Sartorio reached the heavyweight final with a pair of major decisions before losing to top-10 opponent Taye Ghadiali in the championship round.

Once the consolation rounds began, the quartet of Byers, Bellis, Uliano and Floyd went a combined 5-0 (with three pins) in the consolation first round and consolation semifinal matches. Bellis, Uliano and Floyd advanced to third-place matches with pins, while Byers followed a major decision with a big 4-3 overtime win against Campbell’s Wynton Denkins.

The match went to overtime at 2-all thanks to matching escapes and third-period point penalties for stalling. Both wrestlers got escapes in the 30-second TB-1 periods, but Byers had to be aggressive after taking longer to escape, and he was able to push Denkins out for a second stalling point.

Floyd and Uliano then came through with pivotal wins in their third-place matches, with Uliano recording this second straight pin and App State’s ninth pin of the day to help App State lead 99.0 to 84.5 over Campbell going into a finals session in which each team had six entries — with the Camels as considerable favorites at the heavier weights.

Like in his low-scoring regular season matchup with Boyd, Bond wasn’t able to finish any takedowns, but a second-period rideout and third-period escape were enough to post his 2-0 victory in the 149-pound final. Bond used some strong defense in the third period to clinch his second automatic NCAA Championships berth — the seventh-year redshirt senior won a SoCon title at 157 pounds in 2021.

Miller used a three-point takedown, followed by three near-fall points, in the last 15 seconds of the first period to move ahead 6-0 in an 8-3 victory during the 165 final. Miller rode out the second period and allowed a late takedown while attempting o secure a bonus-point victory.

He will head to the NCAA Championships for the second straight year, after being an automatic qualifier as the SoCon runner-up at 174 pounds during his first year as a starter in 2023.

The NCAAs run from March 21-23 in Kansas City, Mo. The 2023-24 season is presented by Hungry Howie’s and Penn Station.

125: #2 Chad Bellis, App State
QF: W (Fall, 0:52) vs. #7 Enis Ljikovic, Davidson
SF: L, (Dec, 5-2) vs. #3 Brayden Palmer, Chattanooga
Conso semi: W (Fall, 1:21) vs. #Malik Hardy, The Citadel
3rd-place match: L (Dec, 14-10) vs. #1 Anthony Molton, Campbell

133: #2 Ethan Oakley, App State
QF: W (Fall, 5:48) vs. #7 Hale Robinson, Davidson
SF: W (Dec, 5-4) vs. #3 Blake Boarman, Chattanooga
Final: W (Dec, 5-4) vs. #1 Dom Zaccone, Campbell

141: #3 Ike Byers, App State
QF: L (Dec, 4-2) vs. #6 Patrick Jordon, VMI
Conso: W (MD, 17-4) vs. #7 Joshua Viarengo, Davidson
Conso semi: W (Dec, 4-3 in TB-1 OT) vs. #4 Wynton Denkins, Campbell
3rd-place match: L (Dec, 5-2) vs. #4 Jacob Silka, The Citadel

149: #1 Cody Bond, App State
QF: W (MD, 13-1) vs. #8 Trenton Donahue, Presbyterian
SF: W (Dec, 7-1) vs. #4 Justin Rivera, Campbell
Final: W (Dec, 2-0) vs. #2 Jeff Boyd, The Citadel

157: #1 Tommy Askey, App State
QF: W (Fall, 4:06) vs. #8 Josh Yost, VMI
SF: W (Dec, 8-2) vs. #4 Lincoln Heck, Chattanooga
Final: W (Dec, 9-2) vs. #2 Tanner Peake, Davidson

165: #1 Will Miller, App State
QF: W (MD, 17-4) vs. #8 Caleb Chandler, VMI
SF: W (MD, 12-3) vs. #4 Bryce Sanderlin, Davidson
Final: W (Dec, 8-3) vs. #2 Dom Baker, Campbell

174: #4 Luke Uliano, App State
QF: W (MD, 12-2) vs. #5 Brodie Porter, The Citadel
SF: L (Dec, 10-8) vs. #1 Austin Murphy, Campbell
Conso semi: W (Fall, 5:38) vs. #7 Samuel Mora, Gardner-Webb
3rd-place match: W (Fall, 5:22) vs. #2 Braxton Lewis, VMI

184: #3 Tomas Brooker, App State
QF: W (TF, 19-4) vs. #6 Toby Schoffstall, VMI
SF: W (Fall, 6:19) vs. #7 Caleb Roe, Presbyterian
Final: W (Dec, 5-4) vs. #1 Caleb Hopkins, Campbell

197: #2 Carson Floyd, App State (Third place)
QF: W (Fall, 5:45) vs. #7 Josh Evans, VMI
SF: L (Dec, 14-10) vs. #3 Patrick Brophy, The Citadel
Conso semi: W (Fall, 2:00) vs. #5 David Harper, Chattanooga
3rd-place match: W (MD, 12-3) vs. #7 Josh Evans, VMI

HWT: #2 Jacob Sartorio, App State
QF: W (MD, 13-1) vs #7 Morvens Saint-Jean, Presbyterian
SF: W (MD, 11-3) vs. #3 Ben Stemmet, The Citadel
Final: L (Fall, 5:40) vs. #1 Taye Ghadiali, Campbell

Team standings
1. App State – 114.0
2. Campbell – 97.5
3. Chattanooga – 63.5
4. Gardner-Webb – 49.5
5. The Citadel – 44.5
6. Davidson – 23.0
7. VMI – 18.0
8. Presbyterian – 5.5

Individual champions/NCAA qualifiers
125 – Brayden Palmer , Chattanooga
133 – Ethan Oakley, App State
141 – Isaiah Powe, Chattanooga
149 – Cody Bond, App State
157 – Tommy Askey, App State
165 – Will Miller, App State
174 – Austin Murphy, Campbell
184 – Tomas Brooker, App State
197 – Levi Hopkins, Campbell
HWT – Taye Ghadiali, Campbell

Additional NCAA allocations
133 – Domenic Zaccone, Campbell
133 – Dyson Dunham, Campbell
149 – Jeffrey Boyd, The Citadel
165 – Domonic Baker, Campbell

Southern Conference Coach of the Year
JohnMark Bentley, App State

Tournament Most Outstanding Wrestler
Taye Ghadiali, 285, Campbell

Pinnacle Award (student-athlete with the highest GPA on the championship-winning team)
Cody Bond, Sr., App State

Print Friendly Version
PLAYERS MENTIONED
Tommy Askey
157 Junior Fourth-Year Junior
Chad Bellis
125 Junior Junior
Cody Bond
149 Redshirt Senior Seventh-Year Redshirt Senior
Ike Byers
141 Redshirt Junior Fifth-Year Redshirt Junior
Carson Floyd
197 Sophomore Sophomore
Will Miller
165 Junior Junior
Ethan Oakley
133 Redshirt Sophomore Fourth-Year Redshirt Sophomore
Jacob Sartorio
HWT Senior Fifth-Year Senior
Luke Uliano
174 Redshirt Sophomore Redshirt Sophomore
Tomas Brooker
184 Freshman Freshman
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By Zach Smith. PENSACOLA, Fla. — There are three guarantees in life: death, taxes, and a thrilling game between App State and Georgia Southern. Once again, the Mountaineers found themselves on top in an overtime thriller with their rivals March 9, 85-80.

App State was led by a 22-point performance from fifth-year forward Donovan Gregory. Sophomore Justin Abson and junior Tre’Von Spillers each notched a double-double in the Mountaineers’ win. Abson proved himself worthy of his Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year award with his seven blocked shots.

Senior guard Tyren Moore was on fire for Georgia Southern. Moore netted a career-high 36 points in the Eagles’ loss. Avantae Parker and Malik Tidwell scored 14 and 11, respectively, to round out Georgia Southern’s top scorers.

App State looked nearly unstoppable in the first half. The Mountaineers scored 11 of the game’s first 13 points and later extended their lead to as many as 14 points. Moore scored eight of Georgia Southern’s final 12 points of the half, closing the deficit to 10 points at the buzzer.

The Eagles clearly made adjustments in the locker room because they came out swinging. Georgia Southern took just over a minute to cut the App State lead in half. Later, the Eagles took a 17-4 run to gain their first lead of the afternoon, before junior Terence Harcum was fouled with 16 seconds on the clock and the Mountaineers trailing by two. Harcum knocked down both shots from the line, and Georgia Southern’s game-winning attempt missed. For the second time this season, App State and Georgia Southern required an extra period to decide a winner.

The bonus stanza was where Georgia Southern’s fatigue might have set in. Having played another game earlier in the week, the Eagles made just one shot in the first four minutes of overtime. The well-rested Mountaineers took advantage, out-scoring Georgia Southern in the extra five minutes, 9-4.

App State head coach Dustin Kerns shared his thoughts on App State’s thrilling victory over Georgia Southern.

“Sun Belt Tournament play,” Kerns said. “We expect games like this. Our guys found a way and we made some winning plays down the stretch. Just really proud of our guys for finding a way to win.”

“We expect games like this”

Georgia Southern head coach Charlie Henry also shared his perspective on his team’s overtime loss.

“They’re a really good team, Coach Kerns does a great job,” Henry said. “You know, it’s all part of what you sign up for when you’re in sports and you’re in basketball. Things come down to one play. Credit to them, they made a lot of plays. Our guys did too.”

App State improved to 4-1 in games that went to overtime on the season. Kerns spoke on what he thinks makes his team so good at closing down the stretch.

“These guys are really experienced,” Kerns said. “We’ve been in these situations. There’s no panic, there’s a unified belief. We know that the game is not over until the buzzer sounds. Every possession matters and these guys have a great understanding of that. We have a cool, calm, collected kind of approach to it.”

Donovan Gregory echoed that thought.

“In those moments, being able to stay together and trusting the work that we put in together as a team, and knowing that, at the end of the day, we’re the better team and we’re prepared for those moments,” Gregory said.

App State’s depth has been a key factor in their success over the course of the season. Kerns spoke on how that impacted App State’s quarterfinals win over Georgia Southern.

“It was big,” Kerns said. “With the overtime period, playing 45 minutes, we still only had one guy with 35 minutes. An average 40-minute game that’s right at 30. Being able to get some guys some rest and breaks is huge. Once again, it’s somebody different every night. Everybody scored that played. That shows that you gotta prepare for nine different guys.”

As a team, App State shot at a 52 percent mark, topping Georgia Southern’s 37 percent clip. The Mountaineers out-rebounded the Eagles, 47-36, but turned the ball over 17 times, leading to 18 Georgia Southern points. App State improved on their nation-best blocks per game with 12 swatted shots. Justin Abson led that effort with seven of his own, his third time with at least that many this season.

With the loss, Georgia Southern has been eliminated from the Sun Belt Tournament. The Eagles complete the 2023-24 season with a 9-24 record, an impressive turnaround following their 0-12 start.

App State moves on to the Sun Belt Tournament semifinals with the win. The Mountaineers will face No. 4 seed Arkansas State, who defeated Louisiana later on March 9. Tipoff is slated for 5 p.m. Central (6 p.m. Eastern) at the Pensacola Bay Center in Pensacola, Fla. March 10. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.

Now official:

App State to play Arkansas State in the Sun Belt semifinals. Tipoff is tomorrow at 6 p.m. Eastern. https://t.co/P5J8LYBU59

— Zach Smith (@zksmith01) March 9, 2024

By David Rogers. PENSACOLA, Fla. — Two-thirds of the way through the first half of basketball on March 9, it looked like the Sun Belt Conference quarterfinal matchup between App State and Georgia Southern might be a blowout win for the Mountaineers. Somebody forgot to tell the Eagles they were supposed to roll over and play dead.

App State did win, 85-80, but it took an overtime period after Georgia Southern chipped away at a 14-point early deficit to take the lead with 6:14 left in the game. Thanks to a pair of made free throws by the Mountaineers’ Terence Harcum with 16 seconds remaining, the No. 1 seeded favorite sons of the High Country pushed the game into overtime, where they made good on their opportunity.

While the Mountaineers’ offensive attack was broad with four players in double figures, scoring, the Eagles’ point of attack was through guard Tyren Moore, who kept Georgia Southern close with a game-high 36 points. Also in double figures for the Eagles were Avantae Parker (14 points) and Malik Tidwell coming off the bench and contributing 11. Although he was the big scorer on the day for GSU, Moore also dished out a game-high five assists.

For App State, senior forward Donovan Gregory recorded a team-high 22 points while sophomore power forward Justin Abson contributed 13 points to go along with four assists and seven blocked shots. Terence Harcum also added 13 points and Tre’Von Spillers poured in 12.

In the team’s press conference after the game, head coach Dustin Kerns reminded reporters that Abson is the Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year for a reason.

“He may have blocked seven,” said Kerns, “but he probably altered another 14.”

On this day, these longtime rivals and adversaries dating back to when both competed in the Southern Conference arrived to the end in different ways. App State dominated inside, as reflected by Abson’s seven blocked shots and thrill-a-minute crowd-pleasers in 10 dunks (vs. none by the Eagles).

Conversely, Georgia Southern, led by Moore, were successful on 9-of-25 three-point attempts (five made by Moore) vs. only two made from the seeming middle of Pensacola Bay by the Mountaineers. The Eagles also scored 18 points off of a whopping 17 Mountaineer turnovers, largely explaining the second half comeback by Georgia Southern.

Where GSU really failed was in their inability to capitalize efficiently on second chance points. They only managed nine points off of their 17 rebounds on the offensive end after teammates’ errant shots.

With App State’s tendency to attack the rim inside the paint, they also attracted 21 fouls by Georgia Southern players. The Mountaineers took advantage, converting on 23-of-27 shot attempts from the charity stripe.

The Eagles took 24 more shots at the basket than the Mountaineers. They just didn’t find their mark and App State’s big men collected 36 defensive rebounds.

Having survived the threat from the tournament’s No. 9 seed, App State will face No. 4 seed Arkansas State, which defeated No. 5 Louisiana, 89-62. Tipoff for the semifinal matchup on March 10 is 6:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (clock changes ahead by an hour tonight), 5:00 Central Daylight Time.

CLICK FOR BOX SCORE: 2421600