BOONE, N.C. - Donald Sims scored 10-straight Mountaineer points in the second half to secure an 81-68 win for Appalachian State University men's basketball against Tennessee Tech in the ESPNU BracketBusters event on Saturday evening.

The Golden Eagles (13-16) cut a double-figure ASU lead down to four points with 13 minutes to play in the contest before Kellen Brand scored on back-to-back possessions to spark a 10-2 run and regain a comfortable lead.

From there, Appalachian (17-11) sank 12 of its final 14 free throw attempts and never let TTU come any closer than seven points in the game's last 10 minutes.

Sims scored 14 of ASU's last 23 points in the game on eight free throws and pair of three-pointers. He and Jeremi Booth each knocked down five treys on the night as the team was 12-of-22 from downtown. The 12 longballs and the team's 54.5 shooting percentage from long range were the second-highest marks of the season for the Apps.

Sims finished the game with 25 points on 5-of-11 shooting and two assists. He drained all 10 free throw attempts to extend his season-long streak to 42 consecutive foul shots.

All 15 of Booth's points came on seven three-point attempts.  The junior's point total was the highest since he matched a career high with 21 points at Chattanooga last month.

Brand and Isaac Butts also reached double figures for Appalachian, as Brand finished with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Butts sank 7-of-10 shots for 15 points and a team-high eight rebounds. The junior added three steals, two blocks and a pair of assists in 34 minutes on the court.

For the Golden Eagles, Kevin Murphy led the way with 25 points on 7-of-13 shooting and a game-high five assists. Elijah Muhammed pulled in a team-high seven rebounds for Tennessee Tech, as the visitors owned a 30-27 margin on the boards.

Overall, Appalachian shot 54.2 percent from the floor and 60 percent in the second half while TTU managed a 45.3 percent clip, including just 4-of-12 shots from beyond the arc.

The win was just ASU's second in four BracketBuster contests and the first at home. ASU fell by two points at Winthrop last season and by a buzzer beater against Niagara two seasons ago.

Three of the four Southern Conference teams participating in the annual event came out on top on Saturday as Elon and College of Charleston picked up wins.  Western Carolina fell 74-72 at Kent State.

Winners of five of their last six games, the Mountaineers return to SoCon play on Monday evening at Elon. The squad needs just one win in its final three regular season games to lock up the North division's top seed for the SoCon Tournament.