Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Appalachian State University men's basketball shot 54.2 percent (13-for-24) from the field, including 6-of-10 from behind the arc and 8-of-9 from the free throw line in the second half to down the Liberty Flames in the first game of the 2015 Challenge in Music City, 73-62, on Thursday afternoon.

The Mountaineers (2-3) boasted four student-athletes with double-figure scoring outputs for the first time this season. Frank Eaves led the way with 18 points, including finishing 10-of-13 from the charity stripe. The 10 free throws for Eaves were a season high. Ronshad Shabazz contributed a hot-shooting second half and finished with 17 points, including 15 points (6-for-9 from the field and 2-for-3 from three-point range) in the second half.

Chris Burgess chipped in 12 points on 3-of-8 shooting, 2-for-4 from the three-point line and was perfect in four attempts from the foul line.

Perhaps one of the more impressive stat lines of the night came from Jacob Lawson who played 24 minutes for App State. Lawson scored 10 points, while also grabbing 10 rebounds and swatting five blocked shots. The rebounds are a career-high for the senior, while the blocked shots match a season and career-high from the season opener against Jacksonville.

Appalachian set a season high with 36 free throw attempts and connected on 29 of them – good for 80.6 percent. Despite a rather cold-shooting first half of play – 10-for-30 from the field and 2-for-7 from three-point range – the Mountaineers finished 21-of-27 from the charity stripe and only trailed Liberty by one point, 34-33, after a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Liberty's A.C. Reid.

Down 13-11 in the first half, App State engineered an 11-0 run sparked by a pair of Lawson free throws. The run spanned 3:41 from the 9:56 mark to 6:15 remaining in the half.  With the Mountaineers up six at 26-18, Liberty would answer with an 11-3 run of its own to tie the game at 29-29. Up 33-31, the Black and Gold would surrender the Reid three-pointer with two seconds left to trail 34-33 at half.

In the second half, the Flames would lead by as many as five at 38-33 with 18:23 remaining. The Mountaineers would orchestrate a 15-4 run keyed by a Burgess triple. The run spanned nearly six minutes off the game clock and culminated with a Kinney jumper and put App State up by six points at 48-42 with 11:13 left in the game.

The Flames, however, would comeback and initiate an 8-2 run in just 1:07 to knot the score at 50-50. In a game full of momentum swings, it was Appalachian's turn and a Jake Babic triple sparked an 8-0 run from the Mountaineers to take a 58-50 lead with just 7:33 left.

Following a Shabazz layup, App State would take a 65-54 lead - its biggest of the game at that point. The Flames answered with four-straight points, but it was stopped by a Burgess three-pointer to put the Apps back up by double-digits. After extending its lead to a game-high 12 points, App State would eventually win by 11.

Despite committing four more turnovers than Liberty, App State outscored the Flames 23-17 and 16-5 in the second half in points off turnovers. App State outrebounded Liberty 34-23 and outscored the Flames in second-chance points. 17-5.

With the win, Appalachian moves to 5-1 all time against Liberty. The game marked the first time both programs matched up since the 2001-02 season.

The Mountaineers will return to the court tomorrow evening for a 6 p.m. EST tilt against the Mercer Bears in their second game of the 2015 Challenge in Music City.