STATESBORO, Ga. - Behind 12 second-half points from Donald Sims, Appalachian State University men's basketball rallied from an early deficit to take a lead, but Georgia Southern came back to end ASU's three-game winning streak, 68-65, on Wednesday.

After spotting Georgia Southern a 13-0 lead, the Mountaineers rallied to tie the game at 24-24 with six minutes to play before the half. Josh Hunter then scored ASU's first five points of the second half, as the Apps gained their first lead of the night, 32-30.

The senior forward finished with a double-double on 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Sims led ASU with 16 points and added three rebounds, an assist and a steal.

Appalachian (10-8, 4-3 SoCon) scored the first nine points after halftime and extended the advantage to as many as 13 points with 10 minutes to play before the Eagles started its run.

GSU (5-15, 2-5 SoCon) was kept to just a pair of free throws for the first nine minutes of the period before a 20-8 run gave the home team a 65-64 advantage with a minute to play.

The Eagles extended the lead with three more free throws, while ASU was 1-for-5 from the line and 0-for-2 from the field in the final 54 seconds.

The hotly-contested game took a somber tone Kellen Brand flipped over the top of GSU's Antonio Hanson in attempt to block a shot with 4:09 to play before halftime and landed awkwardly on his back. He was rolled off the floor on a stretcher and taken to nearby East Georgia Regional Medical Center for observation. The senior was evaluated, released and rode the team bus back to Boone.

Isaac Butts picked up his fifth double-double on the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds in his home state while fellow post player Andre Williamson added five points and six boards. Butts also matched a career high with five blocks.

Marcus Wright scored seven points off the bench, including a dunk and two reverse layups. The sophomore added two of ASU's seven assists.

The Mountaineers struggled shooting early on and made just 12-of-34 shots in the first half. The team regrouped at the intermission and finished the game at 40 percent, compared to 40.7 for GSU. Appalachian was just 3-of-11 from downtown and 10-of-20 at the free throw line.

The Mountaineers did own the lead in both rebounding (42 to 35), turnovers (14-17) and steals (7-5).

ASU returns home to host Western Carolina on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in a battle between the top two teams in the Southern Conference North Division.