Shabazz Joins 1,000 Point Club; Men's Basketball Falls in Double Overtime at James Madison

HARRISONBURG, Va. -- Junior Ronshad Shabazz (Raleigh, N.C./Huntington Prep) became the 32nd player in program history to reach 1,000 career points, but the Appalachian State men's basketball team dropped a 105-99 double overtime decision at James Madison on Wednesday.

Shabazz recorded his milestone point on a free throw at the 10:38 mark of the first half. He would finish the game with 22 points and a career-high tying five assists.

Freshman Justin Forrest (Decatur, Ga./Greenforest McCalep Christian Academy) poured in a career-high 36 points off the bench on 11-20 (55.0 percent) shooting from the field, including a 7-of-12 (58.3 percent) mark on three-pointers.

Senior Griffin Kinney (Delaware, Ohio/Fork Union Military Academy) had a season-high 16 points, all of which came in the second half. Sophomore Isaac Johnson (Charlotte, N.C./Providence Day) pulled down a career-best 16 rebounds.

The Mountaineers (3-3) found themselves ahead 76-63 with 6:43 left to play regulation after a free throw from Jake Wilson (Raleigh N.C./Millbrook). But JMU stormed back to tie the game at 82-82 and send the game into an extra session.

After the Dukes (2-4) built an 85-83 lead in the first overtime, Forrest would convert on a layup to tie the game at 85-85 with 3:13 remaining.

James Madison would score the next four points, before a layup from sophomore O'Showen Williams (Macon, Ga./Stratford Academy) brought Appalachian State within 89-87 with 1:12 to play.

Following a defensive stop, Forrest would drain two free throws with 39 seconds left to tie the game at 89-89. The Mountaineers would get another stop, but Shabazz's shot to win the game was no good, sending the game into a second overtime.

After the Dukes scored the first point of the second overtime session, Forrest drained a step back trey to put App State up 92-90 with 3:36 to play. James Madison would tie the score on its next possession.

After a free throw from Forrest, JMU scored the next five points to build a 97-93 advantage with 1:38 remaining.

Shabazz would then drain two free throws, but Joey McLean of James Madison answered with a bucket to make the score 99-95.

Following a Appalachian turnover, McLean would convert on a layup, before Forrest came right back with a hoop to trim the Dukes lead to 101-97 with 21 seconds left in the second overtime.

From there, the Dukes would knock down four free throws in the closing seconds to walk away with the victory.

JMU came out of the gate strong, scoring the first seven points of the game to force an early App State timeout. The Mountaineers answered right back with a 9-2 spurt to knot 9-9 at the 14:29 mark.

The Black and Gold would build a 23-16 lead thanks to a 11-2 run, but the Dukes came right back with seven straight points to tie the score at 23-23 with 8:39 remaining in the opening frame.

Appalachian answered back with the next five points and held the lead for the rest of the half, taking a 47-41 edge into the break.

Stuckey Mosley led James Madison with 32 points, while Matt Lewis scored 26 points off the bench. McLean added 22 points and DeVelle Phillips tallied a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

The Mountaineers will return to action on Saturday evening, as they host Davidson at 7 p.m. at the Holmes Center. On Black Friday (November 24), fans will have the chance to purchase any reserve ticket for $10 for the men's basketball home game against Davidson. In addition, the first 50 tickets purchased will also receive a free t-shirt available for pick up on gameday. To take advantage of this offer or for more information, please call the ticket office at 828-262-2079 or click here and use the promo code "BLACKFRIDAY" in the special promotions area.