App State men’s basketball played a neutral site game against the 8-2 High Point University Panthers in Hickory Sunday. The Black and Gold pulled off the upset with a score of 86-78.
The Mountaineers started the game on a 16-2 run, highlighted by 4 3-pointers from the Black and Gold. During this run the Panthers went 1-11 from the field, and junior guard Eren Banks made his first 3-pointer in 14 attempts over the last two games.
High Point rallied back, knocking down 4 3-pointers of their own and making the score 18-16 in favor of App State. The Black and Gold went cold, going scoreless for four minutes.
An old school three-point play by redshirt sophomore center Luke Wilson and a 3-pointer from Banks gave the Mountaineers a 8-point cushion.
With just under eight minutes left in the half, the Panthers went on a 12-0 run taking their first lead of the game, 30-26. Their lead did not last long as senior guard Alonzo Dodd hit back-to-back 3-pointers regaining a 32-30 lead.
The Mountaineers took a 34-33 lead into halftime. Graduate student guard Kasen Jennings and Dodd were the bulk of the offense, scoring 10 and 11 points respectively. Both teams were letting it fly from behind the arc making 7 3-pointers each. The Panthers were able to out rebound the Black and Gold giving them extra chances on the offensive end.
Dodd scored first in the second half with a deep 3-pointer. Jennings followed with a baseline jump shot, making the score 39-36 early in the half.
Banks hit his third 3-pointer of the game, making the score 44-36.
Dodd followed with his third 3-pointer of the game, this time from near the half court logo.
A 3-pointer from freshman guard Jacari Brim gave the Black and Gold a 50-40 lead. However, an and-one poster dunk from forward Cam Fletcher gave the Panthers momentum.
High point went on a 12-0 run due to 4 turnovers by the Mountaineers in three minutes. App State struggled to break the Panthers’ full-court press.
Banks knocked the lid off the basket with his fourth 3-pointer of the day, taking a 53-52 lead with over eight minutes left in the game.
The Panthers strung together buckets taking a 58-53 lead. A strong and-one by Wilson shrunk the deficit to 2 with just over five minutes left.
High Point responded with a 3-pointer on the next play stretching the lead to 5. A technical foul on the Mountaineers gave the Panthers 2 free throws and the ball. However, they did not capitalize with a basket.
Wilson scored 6 straight points for App State making the score 63-59, before sophomore forward Michael Marcus Jr. fouled out on a High Point jump shot.
Wilson made 2 key free throws, making the score 68-64 with just under 2 minutes to go.
Banks made a layup with 30 seconds to go in the game, cutting the lead to 3. Jennings followed with a layup of his own, making the score 70-69.
After an App State foul, the Panthers went 1-2 from the line and Jennings took the ball down the court in 7 seconds for a layup to tie the game as the clock expired.
The fans were set for free basketball in Hickory. Dodd opened the overtime period with a made free throw, giving the Mountaineers their first lead since 8:39 in the second half.
A basket from Wilson and 2 free throws from Dodd made the score 76-73. A 3-pointer from Jennings stretched the lead to 6 with just over two minutes left.
Another bucket from Wilson seemed to put the game on ice, until the Panthers hit a 3-pointer cutting the lead to 3. Good defense and foul shooting sealed the win for the Mountaineers.
“I’m just proud of our guys with the resolve of being in the moment, being focused at the task at hand, getting down eight with two and a half left to play and just finding a way on both ends of the floor,” head coach Dustin Kerns said in a postgame press conference.
Wilson came up big in the win recording his third straight double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
“I always say we got the best bigs in the country in my opinion. We some dogs,” Wilson said.
App State will need to clean up the turnovers and cannot go long stretches without scoring as they head into conference play. Their first test will be a home game against the Coastal Carolina University Chanticleers on Thursday. Tipoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. and the game will be live streamed on ESPN+.
