App State men’s basketball lost to Old Dominion on Wednesday by a score of 78-77. It was the Mountaineers’ first home game since Jan. 11.
Junior guard Alonzo Dodd, junior guard Dior Conners, senior forward Jalil Beaubrun, redshirt senior guard Myles Tate and graduate student forward CJ Huntley started the game for the Mountaineers.
Huntley got the App State offense started on the first possession of the game.
The Black and Gold held the Monarchs to just 43 points in their last meeting on Jan. 16, and the defense got to work in this one. App State held Old Dominion scoreless through the first three minutes.
Tate connected on the first shot from behind the arc for the Mountaineers, and he extended the lead to 7-2.
Freshman forward Michael Marcus Jr. connected on a three to push the Mountaineer lead to 11.
Old Dominion was able to cut the lead in half but App State responded with a dunk from Beaubrun. Tate and Dodd each hit a three after the lead was shortened even more.
The Monarchs’ defense was struggling to stop Tate. He connected on a three to give the Black and Gold a 10-point lead, and it gave himself 11.
Graduate student guard Jackson Threadgill hit his first three of the game.
Old Dominion ended the half on a 6-0 run and went into the locker room only trailing by 5. Tate led the Mountaineers in scoring with 15 in the first half.
The second half started fast for both teams, combining for 14 points in the first two minutes. App State’s lead was down to just 1 before Dodd hit a floater.
Old Dominion kept the intensity on offense and was able to tie the game at 45 before the Mountaineers regained the lead with a couple of free throws from Beaubrun.
The Monarchs weren’t done with their attack in the early stages of the second half. Guard Sean Durugordon hit a three and gave Old Dominion their first lead of the game.
Dodd hit a desperately needed three to get the Mountaineers within 1. They hadn’t made one from behind the arc in almost seven minutes.
A back-and-forth battle between both teams continued. Redshirt freshman center Luke Wilson got his first points of the night after completing a three-point play.
Tate got his first points in the second half with a three to push the lead to two possessions. It was the first time the lead was more than 2 in eight minutes.
Old Dominion went on a 5-0 to regain the lead going into the final stages of the game. Neither team was giving in.
Dodd made a couple of free throws to tie the game at 71 with two minutes to play. App State as a whole was getting to the free throw line often in the final minutes of the game but struggling to make them, with just 3 points on three trips to the stripe.
App State wasn’t able to make a basket in the final two minutes of the game and Old Dominion got their lead to 4 with 0.7 left on the clock. The ball was inbounded to Tate, and he drilled a shot from half-court at the buzzer. It wasn’t enough, and the Mountaineers lost the game 78-77.
Tate led the Mountaineers in scoring with 23. It was his ninth game eclipsing the 20-point total on the season.
