TROY, Ala. – Behind a career-high 29 points from Frank Eaves, Appalachian State University men's basketball picked up its second-straight Sun Belt Conference win, a 69-64 victory at Troy on Monday night at Trojan Arena.

The Mountaineers (6-10, 3-4 Sun Belt) raced out to an early double-digit lead, but a scoring drought late in the first half allowed the Trojans (7-9, 2-5) to regain the advantage before Appalachian battle its way back for the victory.

Appalachian State opened the contest on fire, hitting 4-of-6 three pointers in the first five minutes of action to open up a 12-4 lead. Jacob Lawson's dunk with 14:53 on the clock gave the Apps their biggest lead of the game (14-4).

After Troy scored 14 of the next 22 points to make it 22-18, Tommy Spagnolo put the Mountaineers back up by six (24-18) with 8:17 left in the opening period. Appalachian would go cold after that as it failed to score for the next 4:13 and Troy went on top, 25-24.

Landon Goesling gave the Mountaineers a 27-24 advantage on a three-pointer with 4:04 to go that snapped the scoring drought, but the Trojans were able to take a 34-29 lead into the locker room.

Appalachian trailed by four (38-34) with 17:42 remaining in the game, but reeled off a 12-2 run over the next four-plus minutes to take a 46-40 lead with 13:17 to play. Goesling scored five points during the run, including an old-fashioned three-point play at the 13:58 mark.

With the game tied at 51-51, Chris Burgess nailed a shot from beyond the arc to give App State a 54-51 advantage at the 8:37 mark. Troy was able to tie the game three times the rest of the way but could never overcome the deficit.

Nursing a one-point lead (62-61) with 2:40 to go, the Mountaineers scored four in a row to make it 66-61 and connected on crucial free throws down the stretch to seal the deal.

Eaves led all players with 29 points on 8-of-16 shooting, including a 6-of-10 night from beyond the arc. Spagnolo finished with 10 points and seven rebounds while Burgess scored nine and dished out a career-high eight assists.

Troy was paced by three players in double-figures as Wesley Person led the Trojans with 15 points. Kevin Thomas poured in 11 and grabbed eight rebounds while Musa Abdul-Aleem had 11 and Aaron Ariri ripped down a game-high 11 boards.

On the night, Appalachian shot 38.3 percent from the floor but connected on 12-of-29 three-point attempts while Troy shot 40.3 percent, including an abysmal 53.3 at the free-throw line.

The Mountaineers return to action when they host South Alabama at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Holmes Center.

NOTES: Appalachian State improved to 3-0 all-time against Troy ... it was the first meeting between the schools since Jan. 14, 1952 ... Eaves' 29 points marke the seventh time this year and third time in the past five games that he has eclipsed 20 points ... he is shooting 14-of-24 (58.3 percent) from long range over the past two games ... Spagnolo hit double figures for the 22nd time in his career and the 11th time this season ... the Mountaineer coaching staff wore sneakers for the game in support of Coaches vs. Cancer ... more information on the initiative can be found HERE.