BOONE, N.C. -- Seven players scored in double figures as Appalachian State men's basketball posted a 126-71 victory over Warren Wilson in an exhibition contest on Tuesday evening inside the Holmes Center.
Leading the way for the Mountaineers was junior
Ronshad Shabazz (Raleigh, N.C./Huntington Prep School), who scored a game-high tying 23 points on 7-13 (53.8 percent) shooting. He also added three rebounds and four assists.
Junior
Tyrell Johnson (Atlanta, Ga./Stephenson) posted a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Sophomore
Zach Cottrell (Hayesville, N.C./Hayesville) tallied 10 points and four rebounds.
Off the bench, freshman
Justin Forrest (Decatur, Ga./Greenforest McCalep Christian Academy) finished with 17 points and sophomore
O'Showen Williams (Macon, Ga./Stratford Academy) finished with 15 points and eight assists. Junior
Bennett Holley (Roanoke, Va./North Cross) tallied 13 points and junior
Kevin Kerley (Loveland, Ohio/Archbishop Moeller) had 11.
After the teams traded baskets in the early going, the Mountaineers used a 17-0 run to open a 25-9 lead with 14:35 left in the first half.
App State would push its lead to as large as 23 points in the opening half at 40-17 on a dunk by Williams. The Mountaineers would take a 56-34 lead into the break.
The Black and Gold put the game out of reach midway through the second half, using a 17-3 run to open up a 93-53 advantage.
The Mountaineers shot 45-of-81 (55.6 percent) from the field and limited the Owls to 25-of-83 (30.1 percent) shooting.
App State also dominated the rebounding battle, pulling down 71 boards, 24 of which were offensive.
Appalachian State will open the 2017-18 season with two games this weekend at the Holmes Center. The Mountaineers will host Toccoa Falls at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday and will take on Bridgewater at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday. Both contests will be aired on ESPN3.
The Mountaineers are running a 2 for $20 special for each game on the weekend, where fans can purchase two tickets for a total of $20 or a pair of youth tickets for a total of $10. If interested, please contact the App State ticket office by phone at
828-262-2079 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and use the promo code "2for20". Fans can also purchase tickets online using the promo code "2for20" for Saturday's contest against Toccoa Falls by
clicking here and for Sunday's game versus Bridgewater by
clicking here.
