App State men’s basketball lost on the road to High Point on Saturday in Greensboro. After being up by 15, the Mountaineers lost the lead and fell 65-59.
Graduate student guard Jackson Threadgill, junior guard Dior Conners, freshman forward Michael Marcus Jr., redshirt senior guard Myles Tate and graduate student forward CJ Huntley started the game for the Mountaineers. It was a different starting group from the Live Oak Bank Holiday Classic, as Marcus replaced senior forward Jalil Beaubrun as he was out with an injury.
The Black and Gold got off to a hot start defensively and held the Panthers to just 4 points in the first 13 minutes of the game. The Mountaineers’ lead got all the way up to 15.
App State shot 42.9% from deep in the first half, with Threadgill, Conners and Huntley connecting on a triple in the Mountaineers 19-4 run to start the game.
High Point cut the lead to 9 at the break, but App State went into the locker room with a 29-20 lead.
The Panthers came out for the second half as a completely different team, and quickly came back from the halftime deficit and took the lead. The Black and Gold went from the 2:05 mark in the first half to the 13:18 mark in the second half with just 1 point, and went from up 15 to down 4.
High Point’s lead got to as high as 11 with under 8 minutes to play, but App State was not done fighting. With 2:12 left in the game, Threadgill hit 2 free throws to get the deficit back to one possession.
Guard Bobby Pettiford took over for High Point from there. He scored or assisted on the next 6 Panther points and the Mountaineers couldn’t match it. The game ended with a 65-59 High Point win.
Despite the loss, Tate was a large contributor to App State’s scoring in the game. The guard had 24 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. His 24 points led all scorers.
A problem for the Black and Gold was bench production, getting just 10 to High Point’s 40. Despite going 6 for 29 from deep, the Panthers also ended up outshooting the Mountaineers from the field at 36.1% compared to 35.1% from App State.
App State will open up conference play on Wednesday on the road against Louisiana. The Ragin’ Cajuns are 2-9 on the season, and allow the second most points per game in the Sun Belt at 78.5.
The Mountaineers are first in the Sun Belt at 64.3 opponent points per game. The game will tip off on Wednesday in Lafayette, Louisiana, at 8 p.m. and will be streamed live on ESPN+.