The Mountaineers extended their win streak to eight after a come from behind 85-84 overtime victory over Georgia Southern Saturday evening.
“I’m extremely proud of my team,” said junior guard Terence Harcum. “We got down in the first half, we came back and got the win in overtime.”
After trailing by nine multiple times, App State recovered each time as Harcum led the team with a season-high of 26 points. Most of his points came in the opening minutes as he scored eight of the Black and Gold’s first 10 points.
Harcum shot 10-17 from the field and 5-8 from beyond the arc. One of his threes tied the game at 83 with 48 seconds remaining in overtime.
Four other Mountaineers eclipsed double digits; sophomore forward Justin Abson, graduate student forward Donovan Gregory, junior forward Tre’Von Spillers and junior guard Myles Tate.
Abson posted a career-high 20 points on 9-13 shooting from the field along with eight rebounds, two assists and four blocks. His final block closed out the game as he swatted away the Eagles final shot as time expired. In the last three games, Abson has totaled 19 blocks.
Gregory scored 11 points, including the game-winning shot with nine seconds remaining as he drove to the rim and gave App State the lead after being down 84-83. He shot 3-10 from the field and 5-6 from the free throw line, while posting three rebounds and three assists.
Spillers and Tate each totaled 10 points along with Spillers leading the team in rebounds with 11 and Tate led in assists with five.
After shooting 40% from the field and 30% from three in the first half, the Black and Gold responded in the second half by shooting 54% from the field and 57% from beyond the arc. In overtime, the Mountaineers offense performed in the clutch by shooting 62.5% from the field.
Georgia Southern was led by guard Tyren Moore as he scored 24 points, allowing the Eagles to shoot 53% from the field and 42% from three. Their bench contributed 37 points, including forward Avanatae Parker with 19.
App State took advantage of their 21 second chance points by crashing the glass and hauling in 18 offensive rebounds.
By surviving against a rival on the road, head coach Dustin Kerns has led his team to 19-4 overall and to a Sun Belt leading 10-1 conference record.
Saturday’s game marks the second overtime victory of the season, and their first since defeating South Alabama 91-84 Jan. 4.
App State will complete their three-game road stretch by matching up against Texas State Wednesday at 8 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
