App State men’s basketball took a trip down to Atlanta, Georgia to face off against the Georgia State University Panthers Thursday. The Mountaineers took home the victory 52-50.
An unfamiliar starter, graduate student guard Jalen Tot, was the first Mountaineer to score off a steal after nearly two minutes of no action from either team.
Little to no movement continued for the next few minutes as the game remained tied at 2 with less than 16 minutes left in the first half.
The Black and Gold dealt with full-court pressure early. They were forced to shoot from beyond the arc, but the Mountaineers had no success. App State had a 25% field goal percentage just nine minutes into the game.
Graduate student guard Kasen Jennings made the first 3-pointer of the night, with the Panthers leading 15-9 with under 10 to go.
Tot had his first 3-pointer of the game, and just a minute later, he made his second of the contest.
For the first time in 15 minutes, the game was tied at 21 with less than four minutes on the clock.
The Mountaineers entered the locker room down by just one possession at 23-25. Tot sat with 8 points, redshirt sophomore center Luke Wilson had 6 and season leading scorer Jennings had only 3. App State needed to work on ball control as they let up 8 turnovers in the first half.
The second half began more slowly than the first. Only 5 Mountaineer points were scored in five minutes. Wilson took a trip to the free-throw line for App State, the first of the game with just under 15 minutes left.
With under eight minutes to go, Tot sealed an offensive rebound with a deep shot from beyond the arc to set the score at 40-41, with the Panthers still leading.
The intensity started to brew, as a pair of free throws by Jennings put the Mountaineers up 46-45 with less than three minutes on the clock.
Jennings followed nearly two minutes later with a pocket 3, putting the Black and Gold up 51-48. Wilson was sent to the free-throw line and made one out of the pair, taking a 2-point lead with 2.3 seconds on the game clock for the Panthers to try to score.
The half-court shot from Georgia State was unsuccessful, handing App State the victory 52-50.
Wilson walked away with a double-double, earning 14 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Tot had 14 points, 12 of those coming from beyond the arc.
App State will stay on the road, heading to Conway, South Carolina to play the Coastal Carolina University Chanticleers Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m., and the game will be live-streamed on ESPN+.
