BOONE, N.C. - Frank Eaves scored 28 points and Appalachian State University men's basketball cruised to a 66-43 win over first-place UL Monroe on Saturday afternoon at the Holmes Center.

Eaves' made 9-of-14 shots from the field, including 5-of-9 from three-range, and sank 5-of-6 free throws to help the Mountaineers (10-17, 7-11 Sun Belt) snap a five-game losing streak and pick up perhaps the most impressive victory of Jim Fox's first season as head coach.

The 23-point defeat was the largest of the season for the Warhawks (19-10, 13-5 Sun Belt), which came into the day tied atop the Sun Belt Conference standings with Georgia Southern.

Appalachian State used an 18-2 run midway through the first half to take a commanding 26-12 lead with 5:40 to go before halftime. The Mountaineers went on to take a 34-19 halftime advantage and never led by less than 14 the rest of the way.

After Nick Coppola gave ULM its only lead (10-8) on a jumper with 13:16 to go in the first half, Appalachian mounted a 15-0 run to take a 23-10 lead on Eaves' jumper with 6:32 on the clock.

Eaves score nine points during the run, which finally ended when Tylor Ongwae scored with 5:49 to go to snap a 6:27 scoreless drought for the Warhawks.

Dustin Clarke capped off the first half with a three-pointer at the buzzer to send the Mountaineers to the locker room with a 34-19 lead. The trey was part of an 8-0 Appalachian State run over the final two minutes of the opening period.

The Mountaineers showed no dropoff in the second half, stretching the lead to 20 points (50-30) when Chris Burgess connected from beyond the arc with 11 minutes to go before closing things on out Logan Jackson's layup with 29 seconds remaining.

Appalachian shot a season-high 49.0 percent (24-of-49) from the floor against a UL Monroe squad that entered the week ranked first in the Sun Belt and 10th nationally in field-goal percentage defense (37.9 percent).

The Mountaineers went 8-of-22 from beyond the arc and 10-of-14 at the charity stripe while limiting the Warhawks to just 33.9 percent (19-of-56) from the floor and 4-of-19 from long range.

Eaves' game-high 28 points were just three short of his career high of 31, set on Jan. 24 at Texas State. He was the only Mountaineer to score in double-figures.

Besides Eaves, other App State stars included Jake Babic, who matched a career high with six assists, and Jacob Lawson, who stuffed the stat sheet with eight points on 4-of-6 shooting, six rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals in just 16 minutes.

Ongwae, who entered the contest averaging 14.5 points per game, was held to just six on 3-of-11 shooting while Majok Deng scored just four points, well below his season average of 10.2

The Mountaineers dished out 15 assists and committed just nine turnovers while outrebounding the Warhawks by a tally of 35-30.

Appalachian State begins its final weekend of conference play when it hosts Texas State on Thursday at 7 p.m. before closing out the season against UT Arlington next Saturday.

NOTES: Appalachian State improved to 1-1 all-time against UL Monroe ... Saturday's game was the 200th men's basketball game in Holmes Center history (2000-present) ... the Warhawk's 43 points were a season-low ... it also marked the lowest total for any Appalachian opponent since Wofford scored just 40 on Jan. 8, 2013 ... the 23-point margin of victory was the Mountaineers' largest against a Division I opponent since an 86-60 win over Chattanooga on March. 2, 2103 ... Saturday was Alumni Day for men's basketball ... among the 40-plus men's hoops alumni in attendance were former head coaches Kevin Cantwell and Bob Light, as well as 2013 SoCon Defensive Player of the Year Nathan Healy.