App State men’s basketball lost to Georgia State by a score of 70-65 on Saturday. It was the two teams’ second matchup, with the Mountaineers already winning 80-76 on Feb. 1.
Junior guards Alonzo Dodd and Dior Conners, senior forward Jalil Beaubrun, redshirt senior guard Myles Tate and graduate student forward CJ Huntley started the game for the Mountaineers.
Georgia State scored the first 3 points of the game, but Huntley and Beaubrun followed up with baskets to give the Black and Gold a 4-3 lead.
Tate hit the Mountaineers’ first three-pointer of the game for his first points. He hit another a few minutes later to give App State a 12-10 lead.
The Black and Gold defense struggled to guard center Cesare Edwards early as he led the game with 8 of the Panthers’ 15 points in the first 10 minutes, and Georgia State took the lead.
Conners connected with his first three to regain the lead shortly after. All five starters were on the board for the Mountaineers.
Edwards continued to be the bulk of the offense for the Panthers, with 15 first-half points for Georgia State as they once again grabbed the lead. Head coach Dustin Kerns was forced to call a timeout.
The App State offense did everything they could offensively but could not stop Edwards, who hit another three to give him 18.
Georgia State took their biggest lead of the game at 6, but the Black and Gold battled to end the half, and Conners stuck a three at the buzzer to cut the lead to just 1.
Despite the Panthers shooting 52% from the field and 63% from deep, the Mountaineers found themselves in a one-score battle at halftime. Four of the five starters scored 6 points, with Tate being the exception with 8.
App State started the second half off hot as Beaubrun and Huntley quickly gave the Black and Gold the lead.
The attack continued, and a 6-0 run after the media timeout gave the Mountaineers a 6-point lead. Georgia State called a timeout to stop the run.
The Panthers tied the game, but Conners got a steal and a layup to regain the lead shortly after.
Edwards got going again for the Panthers. He got the lead right back and was now up to 24.
The final media timeout came with the game tied at 57. It would come down to who could win the final four minutes.
Both teams traded baskets, and it was tied again with under two to play.
App State couldn’t find the basket they needed, and the Panthers did, hitting a three to take the lead with a minute left.
Tate responded with a deep three to tie it up, but Georgia State got right back down the court to take the lead on a layup and a foul.
Huntley missed an open three-pointer to tie it and App State was forced to foul.
The game ended with Georgia State winning over the Black and Gold 70-65. Tate led the Mountaineers in scoring with 16.
App State will head home for their final two home games of the season. The first will be against Georgia Southern Thursday. The game will tip off at 6:30 p.m. and will be streamed live on ESPN+.