Appalachian State University men's basketball led by as many as 19 points and withstood a late UNC Wilmington charge to secure a 79-68 win in the season opener.

Kellen Brand sank all 14 of his free throw attempts to lead all scorers with 20 points and Donald Sims added 18 in the win.

Brand added three rebounds and a pair of assists, and accounted for the team's final four points while Sims picked up two steals of his own.

For the game, the Mountaineers (1-0) shot 50 percent from the field compared to 39.7 percent for the Seahawks, thanks to a career-best five blocks from Andre Williamson.The sophomore forward added six rebounds and two points.

UNC Wilmington (0-1) certainly had a repeat of last year's comeback in mind when the Seahawks cut a 17-point deficit with 7:36 remaining in the game to just four points at 72-68 in the final minute.

The Apps sank those hopes by sinking 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch to accompany a fast-break layup by Brand in the waning seconds of the game.

Isaac Butts sank 4-of-5 attempts in the first half and finished the game with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting and seven boards. The big man added an assist and one of ASU's seven blocks on the night.

Senior guard Ryann Abraham scored nine points off the bench and led the Apps with four assists. He frustrated the UNCW backcourt for most of the night and came away with three of Appalachian's nine steals.

The win marked the return of head coach Buzz Peterson and was the 202nd of his career and 80th at Appalachian State.

Brand entered the contest with 979 career points and stands just one shy of the 1,000 mark.

Last season, the Mountaineers saw a 17-point lead evaporate over the final six minutes in Wilmington, as the 2008-09 season opener belonged to UNCW in an overtime win.

Appalachian has little time to rest and recover from Friday night's contest as the team travels to former SoCon rival East Tennessee State for a 4 p.m. game on Saturday.