CONWAY, S.C. -- Sophomore O'Showen Williams (Macon, Ga./Stratford Academy) scored a career-high 19 points off the bench to lead Appalachian State past UTEP 76-72 at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off at Myrtle Beach on Sunday.
Williams finished 6-of-8 (75.0 percent) from the field and went 4-of-5 (80.0 percent) on 3-pointers. He also grabbed a career-best seven rebounds and dished out five assists.
Senior
Craig Hinton (Winston-Salem, N.C./East Forsyth) added 11 points on 3-of-5 (60.0 percent) shooting in a reserve role.
Junior
Ronshad Shabazz (Raleigh, N.C./Huntington Prep) battled early foul trouble but finished with 12 points. He is now just 10 points shy of 1,000 for his career.
Freshman Justin Forrest (Macon, Ga./Greenforst McCalep Christian Academy) grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds to go along with seven points off the bench.
The Mountaineers (3-2) used an early 11-0 run, keyed by seven points from Williams to open an early 16-5 lead.
Al late 6-0 spurt, with 3-pointers coming from junior
Bennett Holley (Roanoke, Va./North Cross) allowed the Black and Gold to take a 42-28 lead into the break.
UTEP (1-3) opened the second half by scoring the first 16 points to jump in front 44-42 with 14:37 remaining in the contest.
The Miners would continue to expand their lead and built a 62-55 lead, before App State responded with seven straight points to knot the score at 62-62 with 5:40 to go.
A 3-pointer by Williams gave the Black and Gold a brief 68-67 lead, but UTEP's Keith Frazier answered with a jumper to put the Miners right back in front with 3:59 to go.
But the Mountaineer defense locked in and held the Miners scoreless for a 3:43 stretch and got a trey from junior
Tyrell Johnson (Atlanta, Ga./Stephenson), a layup from senior
Griffin Kinney (Delaware, Ohio/Fork Union Military Academy) and a free throw from Forrest to take a 73-68 lead with 39 seconds left.
After a trio of free throws by UTEP, Shabazz missed a pair of free throws. The Miners grabbed the rebound and Frazier drew a foul. He made the first attempt but missed the second, with Williams securing the rebound and getting fouled.
Clinging to a 73-72 lead, Williams nailed both free throws to make the score 75-72 in favor of the Mountaineers with 5.9 seconds left.
Appalachian fouled on the ensuing inbound and the Miners missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw. Kinney grabbed the rebound and was immediately fouled. He split a pair of free throws to put the game away.
The Mountaineers held a 43-29 edge in rebounding, including a 12-5 edge on the offensive glass.
App State will be back at it on Wednesday, taking on James Madison in a road contest that will begin at 4 p.m.
