The ninth-seeded Mountaineers traveled to Pensacola, Florida, March 2 for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament to face the eighth-seeded South Alabama Jaguars. 

App State came into the game missing graduate student forward Dibaji Walker, who didn’t travel with the team.

The Mountaineers had a slow start to the game, trailing by nine. Despite this start offensively, sophomore guard Terence Harcum, junior guard Xavion Brown and junior forward CJ Huntley heated up for the Mountaineers. App State took the lead with just under four minutes and never looked back for the rest of the half. 

Harcum led the way with 14 points, 12 of which came from beyond the arc. Huntley and Brown followed in suit with eight points each. 

Both teams traded buckets for a majority of the second half. However, App State started to struggle shooting beyond the arc, and with South Alabama’s Kevin Samuel locking down the paint with six blocks, the Mountaineers fell behind late. Despite App State’s best efforts, they fell to the Jaguars 68-61. 

Four Mountaineers finished the game with double-digit points, combining for 52 of the 61 points. Harcum led the team with 17, Huntley followed with 13, senior forward Donovan Gregory finished with 12 points, 10 of which came in the second half and Brown wrapped up the double-digit scoring with 10 points. 

The team shot 37.9% from the field and 36.4% from the 3-point line. Additionally, the Mountaineers shot 50% from the free throw line shooting three of six in the game. Justin Abson, a freshman forward, came up with 13 rebounds to lead the team.

App State finished the 2022-23 campaign with a 16-16 record and 9-9 in Sun Belt conference play.