Box Score JONESBORO, N.C. – Milos Kostic scored the go-ahead layup with 14 seconds to play and Appalachian State University men's basketball overcame a 14-point deficit to earn its first-ever Sun Belt Conference win in their league opener, a 74-73 thriller at Arkansas State on Saturday at the Convocation Center.

The Mountaineers (4-6, 1-0 Sun Belt) trailed 57-43 with 9:37 left to play, but hit 13 of their final 19 shots to complete their largest comeback in nearly eight years to snap a four-game winning streak for the Red Wolves (6-5, 1-1).

It looked as if Arkansas State was in firm control when Anthony Livingston dropped in a layup to tie the Red Wolves' largest lead of the game, 57-43, with 9:37 to play, but the Mountaineers roared back with a 23-10 run over the next seven-plus minutes to cut the deficit to just one point (67-66) with 2:06 to play.

A-State hit a pair of free-throws to go back up by two points, but Frank Eaves tied the contest at 69-69 when he hit a layup in traffic, drew a foul and converted the three-point play with just under two minutes to go. After Livingston gave the Red Wolves the lead again (71-69) with 1:20 on the clock, Kostic drilled a three to give the Apps a 72-71 lead with just 51 ticks remaining.

Livingston again gave Arkansas State the lead with a layup on the ensuing possession, but Kostic grabbed a rebound after Jake Babic's jumper came up short and hit the eventual game-winner with 13 seconds remaining. The Red Wolves had one final chance to win but Sean Gardner missed with two seconds left and Eaves grabbed the rebound to seal the win.

Kostic scored a career-high 11 points in just seven minutes off the bench for Appalachian. Eight of his points came in the final two minutes of play, including a pair of three pointers.

Appalachian got off to a quick start, leading by as many as six points in the opening six minutes of the first half, but went cold over the remainder of the opening period and trailed 37-30 at the break. In all, the Mountaineers led for just 9:47 of a possible 40 minutes, but came through when it counted, outscoring the Red Wolves 31-16 over the last 10 minutes of play.

Eaves led all players with 22 points in an 8-of-14 effort from the floor. It was his fourth 20-point performance of the season and 13 of those points came in the second half. Tommy Spagnolo poured in 12 and grabbed a team-best eight rebounds while Chris Burgessadded nine and Griffin Kinney tied a career high with seven rebounds and added six points off the bench.

Livingston paced the Red Wolves with a double-double as he tallied 21 points and 13 rebounds. Gardner scored 17 points, but missed the potential game-winning shot at the buzzer. Cameron Golden poured in 11 points and PJ Harwick scored 10 while dishing out an incredible 15 assists.

On the night, Appalachian shot 45.3 percent (29-of-64) including 56.3 percent (18-of-32) in the second half. Arkansas State connected at a clip of 42.9 percent and made 13-of-14 free throws while the Mountaineers had an uncharacteristically bad night at the charity stripe, hitting just 10-of-19 shots.

Appalachian State finished with a 39-34 edge in rebounds and saw its bench outscore A-State's by a 25-12 count. The Mountaineers return to action on Monday when they host defending league tournament champion UL Lafayette at 7:30 p.m. at the Holmes Center.

NOTES: Appalachian State moved to 2-1 all-time against Arkansas State ... the 14-point deficit is the largest overcome since the Apps also came back from down 14 against The Citadel in a 75-71 overtime win on Feb. 9, 2008 ... Kostic scored all 11 of his points in the final 8:25 of the game ... he did not play in the team's previous game at Charlotte and had appeared in just four games for a total of 19 minutes coming in to Saturday's win ... the Mountaineers moved to 3-1 when opening play in a new league ... Appalachian also won its openers as a member of the North State Conference (1930) and the Southern Conference (1972) ... the Mountaineers improved to 54-32 all-time in league openers ... the last time Appalachian overcame a double-digit deficit was in a 78-70 win over North Greenville on Dec. 4, 2013 (trailed 47-37 with 16:34 to play).