BOONE, N.C. – Frank Eaves scored a game-high 21 points and Appalachian State University men's basketball sent senior Tommy Spagnolo out as a winner as it grabbed its third-straight victory, 72-60, over UT Arlington in the season finale on Saturday at the Holmes Center.

The Mountaineers (12-17, 9-11 Sun Belt) shot a blistering 62.5 percent in the second half to overcome a one-point halftime deficit and hand the Mavericks (16-14, 10-10) their second-straight loss.

With the victory, Appalachian assured itself of a sixth-place finish in its very first season as a member of the Sun Belt Conference despite being picked to finish last in the 11-team league in the preseason coaches poll.

Saturday's win did not come easy as the Mountaineers were forced to climb out of an early 7-0 hole, but a total-team effort proved to be enough as App State wrapped up its inaugural Sun Belt campaign with a win.

It looked as if UT Arlington would roll as it took a 7-0 less than two minutes into the game, but a pair of Spagnolo free-throws sparked a 7-2 run that cut the deficit to just two points (9-7) with 14:20 to go in the opening period.

The Mavericks were able to extend the lead back to six points on two occasions in the next six minutes of action, but back-to-back threes from Eaves and Chris Burgess knotted the game at 18-18 with 6:21 left.

Michael Obacha hit a layup on Appalachian's final possession of the half to cut UTA's lead to just 27-26 at the break.

After UTA found itself up two (40-38) with 12:51 to play, Jake Babic would give the Mountaineers the lead for good as he drilled a shot from beyond the arc to make it 41-40 with just under 12 minutes left.

The Mavericks were able to stay close for much of the game, but Burgess hit a three-pointer with just 48 seconds to go that gave Appalachian State an 11-point lead (69-58) and put UT Arlington away for good.

Eaves finished 6-of-13 on the day and knocked down 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. Babic poured in 15 points, just one shy of tying his career-high, and Burgess finished with 11 to round out a trio of double-digit scorers.

Obacha finished with five points and a team-high six rebounds while Jacob Lawson added nine points, five boards and two blocks off the bench and Landon Goesling finished with seven points and a career-best four assists.

Jamel Outler paced UT Arlington with 11 points while Jorge Bilbao, Lonnie McLanahan and Anthony Walker each scored 10. Bilbao also pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.

On the day, Appalachian State shot 45.1 percent from the floor and went 17-of-22 from the charity stripe while the Mavericks shot 42.6 percent and made just 11-of-19 free throws.

UT Arlington finished with a 39-31 edge in rebounds, but the Mountaineers forced the Mavericks into 19 turnovers, which they turned into 23 points.

NOTES: Appalachian State improved to 1-2 all-time against UT Arlington ... the Mountaineers also improved to 41-49 all-time in regular-season finales ... Appalachian posted a winning home record (7-5) for the 11th time since the Holmes Center opened in 2000 ... Spagnolo and head manager Trevor Smith, also a senior, were both recognized in a pregame ceremony ... Eaves' performance was his 11th 20-point performance of the season ... App State finished 7-4 in Saturday contests this year ... the Mountaineers ended the season with a team free-throw percentage of 70.9 percent, its best season-long free-throw performance since shooting 73.8 percent in 2009-10.