By Zach Smith. BOONE, N.C. — Looking to clinch the top seed in a conference tournament for the first time in nearly half a century, App State faced Old Dominion at the Holmes Center Feb. 28. The Mountaineers picked up their 25th win of the 2023-24 season, defeating the Monarchs, 89-64.

App State was firing on all cylinders, securing a dominating victory. Four Mountaineers scored in the double figures, led by an 18-point, 16-rebound double-double courtesy of Tre’Von Spillers. Christopher Mantis netted 12 points while Donovan Gregory and Terence Harcum posted 11 each to round out the home side’s top scorers.

Old Dominion saw 15-point performances from Tyrone Williams and Chaunce Jenkins. Williams was the top rebounder for the Monarchs, grabbing five boards.

The game began with a scoring drought of nearly three minutes from both sides. Gregory’s opening layup then opened the floodgates for the Mountaineers, who went on to score 24 of the contest’s first 28 points. With a comfortable 20-point margin, App State remained focused through the rest of the first half. The Mountaineers extended their lead at the end of the period, treating the 4,785 home fans to a 25-point halftime lead.

ODU looked to rally in the second half. The Monarchs drew the game to within 15 points, but App State immediately put thoughts of a miraculous comeback to bed via their ensuing 11-0 run. The Mountaineers dominated ODU, defeating the visitors by 25.

App State head coach Dustin Kerns shared his thoughts on the Mountaineers’ convincing win over Old Dominion.

“I thought we came out with some fire in our eyes,” Kerns said. “I thought we came out and imposed our will early, I thought it was very balanced, I thought we set the tone defensively. We had nine assists before we had a turnover and I thought we played a really good game.”

In recent games, App State has found themselves trailing in the second half, but have prevailed due to their depth. Kerns spoke on his team’s ability to jump in front early against Old Dominion.

“It felt good tonight to be up 25 at the half, which we’ve done before in non-conference,” Kerns said. “I was proud of our guys for coming out with some attitude from the start. It really felt like our guys came out and they knew they had a job to do.”

“they couldn’t keep me off the glass”

Tre’Von Spillers led the Mountaineers’ dominant effort on the glass in their statement victory, grabbing a season-high 16 rebounds. Spillers talked about his impressive performance.

“We saw that at some points they had small guards,” Spillers said. “I just felt like that’s a better opportunity for me to go and grab rebounds. Even when they had their bigs in, I still feel like they couldn’t keep me off the glass. Just going in there with the energy that I play with, it helped us a lot tonight.”

App State’s victory over Old Dominion secured the top seed in the upcoming Sun Belt Tournament for the Mountaineers. The Black and Gold also clinched at least a share of the conference regular season title. Kerns spoke on what it means for the program to be at the top of the league.

“I think it’s a bigger deal than maybe a lot of people realize, us finishing first in the regular season with at least a share,” Kerns said. “We control our own destiny with that. When you talk about Sun Belt basketball and you talk about App State basketball being on top, that’s a big deal.”

As a team, App State shot at an impressive 51 percent clip, compared to ODU’s 38 percent mark. The Mountaineers out-rebounded the Monarchs, 47-27, and held the visitors without a single second-chance point. Once App State gained the lead, they never lost it, earning a wire-to-wire victory over Old Dominion.

“you talk about App State basketball being on top, that’s a big deal”

With the loss, ODU is secured in the bottom spot of the Sun Belt standings. The Monarchs travel to Georgia Southern March 1 for their regular-season finale. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m., and the game can be streamed on ESPN+.

App State clinched at least a share of the Sun Belt regular season title with their win over the Monarchs. The Mountaineers look to break the program record for wins in a season March 1, as they take on fourth-place Arkansas State on Senior Night. Tipoff for the potentially historic night at the Holmes Center is set for 6:30 p.m., and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — It took almost three minutes before either host App State or visiting Old Dominion found the bottom of a net at the Holmes Convocation Center on Feb. 28, but once the Mountaineers’ Donovan Gregory rolled in a layup, App State didn’t know how to stop.

And, they played defense, too. When Tre’Von Spillers electrified the crowd with a dunk and Christopher Mantis elevated the pandemonium with a “three” just 16 seconds later, App State led 24-4 and led coast-to-coast in this 89-64 AppNation thriller.

Almost 5,000 people (4,785) witnessed what can only be called a “statement” game by the Mountaineers. If anyone doubted their supremacy at the top of the Sun Belt Conference in 2024, they should be thinking again after this performance. Now in his fifth year of building the App State men’s hoops program, Dustin Kerns brought together a balanced team featuring three big men in Spillers, Justin Abson, and C J Huntley, and surrounded them with perimeter shooters who can also drive fearlessly down the lane in Terence Harcum, Myles Tate, Donovan Gregory, Xavion Brown, Jordan Marsh and Christopher Mantis.

With the win, App State tied the program record of 25 wins in a season. The earlier team was in 2006-07, when the Mountaineers went 25-8. Houston Fancher was the App State head coach then and the team was competing in the Southern Conference.

App State also secured the No. 1 seed for the Sun Belt Conference tournament that begins next week in Pensacola, Fla. It marks the first time for a one seed in a conference tournament since 1978-79. During that campaign competing in the SoCon, the Mountaineer lineup featured centers Mel Hubbard (6-8) and Charles Payton (6-5), as well as guard Darryl Robinson and forward Renaldo Lawrence.

The home win in the Holmes Center was the 14th straight, tying the facility’s record for wins in a season with one more game to play on Friday, Mar. 1.

Among the most impressive stats for Wednesday’s home game against Old Dominion was “zero,” reflecting the number of second chance points scored by the Monarchs. Afterward, Spillers told reporters that it is being first to the ball on a missed shot. In other words, rebounding.

“You have to hit first,” said Spillers. “That’s the biggest thing in rebounding is to hit first on defensive rebounds so they don’t get a second chance.”

Overall, the Mountaineers outrebounded the Monarchs by 20 (47-27), including Spillers recording his ninth double-double of the season — and he did it by the first half when he took 11 points and 12 rebounds into the locker room at intermission.

Helping the Mountaineers gain scoring separation vs. the Monarch were three made 3-pointers by Christopher Mantis within roughly three minutes around the midpoint of the first half. His third “three” at the 9:51 mark of the opening half gave App State a 22-point lead at 32-10. With Gregory, Spillers and Tate leading the way for the rest of the half, the Mountaineers closed to a 25-point lead at the half, 51-26. The 51 first half points was the most the Mountaineers have scored against a Division I opponent during the current campaign.

Now with a 6-game winning streak (14 consecutive wins at the Holmes Center), App State will look to turn back the 4th-place Arkansas State Red Wolves on Fri., March 1, 6:30 p.m. It is also Senior Night, when the Mountaineers will celebrate the careers of Donovan Gregory, Bryant Greene and C J Huntley.

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By Matt Present. JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — App State used a pair of big innings offensively, climbing out of an early hole in the third and taking the lead in the seventh, on their way to a 9-6 win over ETSU on Feb. 27 at Thomas Stadium.

Trailing 4-1 after two innings of play, App State (7-1) came back to tie the score in the third. CJ Boyd led off with a single off the second base bag, and Austin St. Laurent was hit by a pitch to begin the inning. Banks Tolley then ripped a double to the left-center field gap to score Boyd. One batter later, Braxton Church lined a gapper in a similar spot to plate a pair and tie the score at 4-4.

After the Bucs regained the lead with a two-run sixth, App State was quick to answer in the top of the seventh. After Joseph Zamora was hit by a pitch to begin the frame, the lineup turned over for Boyd, who clobbered his fourth home run of the season to straight away left field to tie the score.

St. Laurent then followed with a single up the middle to continue the rally, and Tolley belted his second double of the ballgame one batter later to give the Mountaineers their first lead of the contest. Tolley came into score later in the inning on a wild pitch to give the Mountaineers an 8-6 lead.

Grey LaSpaluto (win, 1-0) picked up the win in relief, striking out four batters in 2.1 innings of work while allowing just one hit and no walks.

Tyler Tuthill also allowed just an unearned run in his second outing of the season, striking out two, while Zach Lewis (save, 1) earned the team’s first save of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth inning of work.

Tolley finished the day 3-for-5 at the plate, adding a home run in the ninth inning, his third of the season, to provide App State an insurance run. The Mountaineers have now hit 16 home runs though eight games on the season.

App State makes the trek to Carbondale, Ill. For a three-game weekend series against Southern Illinois. First pitch on Friday is set for 7 p.m. ET, with the middle game on Saturday slated for 3 p.m. The series finale against the Salukis is set for Sunday at 1 p.m.

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