Five Reach Double Figures in Men's Basketball 83-77 Setback at South Alabama

MOBILE, Ala. -- A total of five Mountaineers reached double figures, but the Appalachian State men's basketball team came up on the short end of a 83-77 decision at South Alabama on Saturday.

Freshman Justin Forrest (Decatur, Ga./Greenforst McCalep Christian Academy) had a team-high 15 points for the Mountaineers (8-12, 3-4 SBC). Senior Griffin Kinney (Delaware, Ohio/Fork Union Military Academy) added 14 points on 6-of-9 (66.7 percent) shooting and junior Tyrell Johnson (Atlanta, Ga./Stephenson) had 10 points on 4-of-6 (66.7 percent) shooting.

Off the bench, senior Craig Hinton (Winston-Salem, N.C.) had a career-high tying 13 points on 5-of-6 (83.3 percent) shooting and a 3-of-4 (75.0 percent) mark on three-pointers, to go along with six rebounds. Sophomore O'Showen Williams (Macon, Ga./Stratford Academy) chipped in with 12 points, three rebounds and three assists.

For the Jaguars (11-9, 4-3 SBC), Rodrick Hicks scored a game-high 26 points, while Josh Ajayi posted a double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Herb McGee also reached double figures with 12 points and dished out a game-high six assists.

The Black and Gold controlled play early, scoring the first five points and building a 19-11 advantage with just over 14 minutes left in the first half.
 
After the Jaguars would pull to within a point at 29-28, the Apps countered with eight consecutive points to push their lead to 37-28 with 4:38 left in the first half. The Mountaineers took a 45-40 lead into the break.
 
In the second half, the Jaguars used an early 10-0 run to jump in front 52-50 with 16:56 to play.
 
South Alabama would push its lead out to 60-55, before Appalachian countered with a 9-0 run to open a 64-60 lead with 8:20 to go.
 
The score would remain tight and with the game tied at 71-71, the Jaguars reeled off four straight points to jump in front 75-71, only to see the Mountaineers score the next four points to tie the game at 75-75 with 2:10 remaining.
 
Both teams would score on their next possession, before the Jaguars took a 79-77 lead with 44 seconds left on a basket by Ajayi.
 
App State turned the ball over on its next possession and fouled McGee. He would miss the front end of a one-and-one but the ball went out of bounds off of the Mountaineers, allowing South Alabama to keep possession.
 
Sikes was then fouled and knocked down both free throws to put the Jaguars up 81-77 with 24 seconds left. Appalachian would then turn the ball over on the ensuing possession and McGee hit a pair of free throws to put the game away.

The Black and Gold went 27-of-58 (46.6 percent) from the field and 10-of-21 (47.6 percent) from deep. South Alabama went 28-of-53 (52.8 percent) in shooting and 5-of-16 (31.3 percent) from beyond the arc. The Jaguars also knocked down 22-of-25 (88.0 percent) of their free throws.

The Mountaineers held a 19-8 edge in second chance points and also saw their bench outscore South Alabama's 28-8.

App State will be back at it on Monday, taking on Troy in a road contest that will tip at 8:15 p.m. EST on ESPN3. The game is a makeup from a postponement on Thursday.