App State men’s basketball returned to the High Country Thursday with a win over the James Madison University Dukes by a score of 80-65. It was the first of a 4-game homestand.
“Really proud of our guys starting the game well, finishing the first half well, starting the second half well and finishing the game well against a really great program,” head coach Dustin Kerns said in the postgame press conference.
Redshirt sophomore center Luke Wilson won the tipoff and got right to it offensively, scoring a contested layup to open the game, and a similar-looking layup on the following possession.
Senior guard Alonzo Dodd followed up Wilson’s baskets with a layup of his own, and the Dukes called a timeout 95 seconds into the game. After the timeout, graduate student guard Jalen Tot got in on the early run, splashing the first 3-pointer of the game to make the score 9-0.
The Black and Gold weren’t done, as sophomore forward Michael Marcus Jr. connected on a 3-pointer, extending the lead to 12. James Madison got on the board with a 3-pointer to stop the bleeding.
Graduate student guard Kasen Jennings drained a 3-pointer to give himself 5-straight points for the Mountaineers, and the advantage was back to 12.
James Madison began crawling back into the game with a layup from forward Justin McBride that cut the lead to 4 and an 8-0 run from the Dukes.
Dodd continued to rain 3-pointers for the Black and Gold, and the lead extended back to 9. He followed that up by quickly driving to the basket and finishing to give him 9 points.
Wilson drove to the basket and had the ball stripped, but it found the hands of Marcus, who scored.
The Dukes went to the full court press and were able to get a steal and a fast break dunk from forward Eddie Ricks III.
App State didn’t attempt its first free throws until the 3:55 mark in the first half, in which Marcus split his opportunities at the line.
Dodd was having a great first half, becoming the first player to reach the double-digit mark on another left-handed finish. Marcus wasn’t far behind, with his chances coming on the offensive glass, cleaning up a miss to give him 10 points.
Both teams went into the locker room with App State controlling a 38-27 lead. Dodd connected on another 3-pointer to give himself 14 at the end of the half.
“We have been there plenty of times this season where we have been up on teams at half, and we somewhat got comfortable and let them have some hope that they could win the game,” Jennings said. “We just wanted to really attack that coming out of halftime.”
Dodd picked up right where he left off by scoring the first basket of the second half. He then found Jennings for a 3-pointer, and the lead ballooned to 16. The Dukes were able to cut the lead to 10 before the first official timeout.
Junior guard Eren Banks missed the last 2 games with injury, but he returned with a 3-pointer to extend the advantage to 14.
Even with a double-digit lead, App State was giving up offensive rebounds and second-chance points, keeping the Dukes within striking distance.
Jennings was bringing the offense in the second half for App State. In nine minutes, he had 13 points, including 3 triples, to get the lead back to 14.
With no points since the first two possessions of the game, Wilson got involved with a couple of free throws and a high-powered dunk. He even showed up on the defensive end with a block.
Chasing down a career milestone, Jennings drilled a deep 3-pointer to give himself over 1,000 career points.
“It’s a goal that I wanted to get this year; just glad I was able to do that,” Jennings said. “Most importantly, I’m glad we won. It wouldn’t mean nothing if we didn’t win.”
App State never let up on its offensive attack and cruised to a 15-point victory.
The Black and Gold will be back in action in the Holmes Convocation Center Saturday when Old Dominion University comes to town. The game will tip off at 1 p.m. and will be streamed live on ESPN+.
