GREENSBORO, N.C. - Kellen Brand scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half to boost Appalachian State University men's basketball past UNC Greensboro, 75-69, on Monday evening in front of 4,198 fans at the Greensboro Coliseum.

The Spartans (5-19, 4-9 SoCon) held a narrow two-point lead with seven minutes to play before Brand sparked a 7-0 run to give the Mountaineers (14-10, 8-4) the lead for good.

UNCG pulled back within 65-62 with 4:19 on the clock before Isaac Butts tipped in a miss to help the Apps back to a five-point cushion with two minutes to play. Butts finished the game with eight points on 4-of-7 shooting, seven rebounds and ASU's lone block.

Ben Stywall responded with a pair of free throws to cut the home team's deficit back to three points before sending the Mountaineers to the free throw line on each of the next three possessions.

Donald Sims sank all four attempts in the final two minutes and Butts added another one to seal the win, as UNCG never got closer than five points down the stretch.

Sims scored 10 points in the first half and finished the game with 16 points on 4-of-13 shooting in addition to four rebounds and an assist. He drained all six free throw attempts to improve to an astounding 95.1 percent from the line on the season (116-122).

Josh Hunter scored 10 points ­— including a fast-break layup with 25 seconds to play — and hauled in a team-high 11 boards to tally his third double-double of the season. The senior has reached double figures in scoring in three-straight games.

The Spartans were led by Kyle Randall's 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting and two of the team's five assists, while Stywall grabbed 12 of the UNCG's 25 rebounds. The Mountaineers recorded 35 boards, including 12 on the offensive end.

ASU shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half and finished the game at 46.9 percent, compared to 40.7 for UNCG. The Apps were also proficient from the charity stripe, sinking 22-of-26 attempts. Over the last two games, ASU is 46-of-54 from the free throw line, an 85.2 percent mark.

The contest saw nine first-half lead changes and 13 total, in addition to 12 ties. Andre Williamson and Marcus Wright scored seven points each to account for 14 of the team's 17 bench points and Wright added three rebounds and a pair of assists.

Rounding out the starters, Jeremi Booth scored eight points with a pair of treys and shared the team lead with two assists.

Elsewhere in the Southern Conference on Monday, Western Carolina fell at Elon to drop to 8-5 in league play, moving the Mountaineers into first place in the North.

Appalachian returns home on Thursday to host Davidson at 7 p.m.