App State men’s basketball traveled to Troy, Alabama Saturday and defeated the Troy University Trojans by a score of 66-44.
Sophomore forward Michael Marcus Jr. got the scoring started right away with a 3-pointer. The deep shots were falling for the Black and Gold, despite being 13th in the Sun Belt in three point percentage, after graduate student guard Kasen Jennings knocked two down to make it a 9-4 game.
Troy tied the game at 11, but Jennings continued his efficient start to the game by hitting his third 3-pointer of the game. The Trojans grabbed their first lead after a fastbreak layup from forward Victor Valdes.
Jennings had 14 of the first 22 points for App State, and splashed another 3-pointer to regain the lead. Junior guard Eren Banks continued the 3-point outburst with 2 from behind the arc, and the advantage was 9.
Senior guard Alonzo Dodd added to the App State attack to make the score 32-19 before Troy could break the run on a jumper, but Dodd scooped it in again on the following possession.
It was a 10-2 run for the Black and Gold.
Jennings fired a shot in with a foot on the line giving the Mountaineers a 36-24 lead at halftime, and it gave him a 16-point half.
After 2 offensive rebounds, Jennings scored on the Mountaineers’ first possession out of the locker room to give him 18 points.
After App State went cold and the Trojans cut into the lead, Jennings kept his scorching stretch going with a personal 9-0 run for a new career high 27.
Banks splashed a 3-pointer after an offensive rebound, and Marcus followed up with a dunk, and the lead blossomed to a game-high 17.
Graduate student guard Jalen Tot was 0-8 in the game, but launched a 3-pointer from well beyond the 3-point line for his first points; Marcus hit one of his own right after.
Jennings got to 30 points on his sixth 3-pointer of the game as the Mountaineers offense was not letting up, and his seventh later on to give him 33. He finished his game off scoring 10 points more than he ever had in a game.
He finished with half of the App State points, as the Black and Gold throttled the Trojans 66-44.
App State finds themselves just a half game out of first place in the Sun Belt after the win, and heads back to the High Country for a game Wednesday against the University of South Alabama Jaguars. The game will tip off at 6:30 p.m. and will be streamed live on ESPN+.
