App State men’s basketball returned home from the Live Oak Bank Holiday Classic to face Mid-Atlantic Christian University on Tuesday. The Black and Gold won 85-43.
App State has won five of their last six games and 19 of their last 20 home games.
“Nineteen and one in our last 20 games at home says a lot about the Holmes Center and our students and fans,” said head coach Dustin Kerns.
Graduate student guard Will Coble started for the first time this season and made an instant impact with a three. Coble joined the starting lineup with his high school teammates, graduate student forward CJ Huntley and graduate student guard Jackson Threadgill.
The Mountaineers jumped to an early 9-0 lead in the first two minutes of the game and did not take their foot off of the gas. The Black and Gold headed into halftime with a 47-22 lead.
Junior guard Alonzo Dodd finished the first half with a nifty move to the basket, which accounted for just 2 of his 8 points in the half.
Huntley scored 8 points in the first four minutes with a couple of high-flying dunks. He scored 14 of his points in the first half, following a 17-point performance against UNC-Wilmington Saturday. Huntley came into the game averaging 14.8 points.
“My teammates give me the ball, especially when I am running in transition, so I just feel like getting stops as a team and pushing in transition helped me,” Huntley said.
It was a career night for several Mountaineers, including Dodd, freshman center Luke Wilson, junior guard Dior Conners, freshman guard Cameron O’Kelly and freshman forward Michael Marcus Jr.
Dodd recorded a new season high 19 points, just one shy of his career high of 20. Kerns had high praise for Dodd.
“Seven for seven, four assists and one turnover, that was good for him to play a lot of minutes,” Kerns said.
It was also a career night for Wilson with 9 points and 7 rebounds.
Conners ignited a spark off the bench with four 3-pointers. Conners finished with 17 points, 11 of which came in the first half.
It was a quiet night for redshirt senior guard Myles Tate who only scored 4 points despite averaging 13.6 points a game.
Kerns went deep into the bench with 14 Mountaineers recording minutes. One of whom was O’Kelley, who recorded his second collegiate field goal in the final minutes of the game.
Marcus Jr. tied his career high with 10 rebounds and helped App State outrebound the Mustangs 53 to 36.
App State played well on both sides. The Black and Gold connected on 12 of 30 three-pointer attempts and swarmed the Mustangs all night, recording 10 blocks and 5 steals.
App State’s win improves their overall record to 6-3.
The Mountaineers will start their three-game road trip at High Point on Dec. 14. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m and can be streamed on ESPN+.
