SAN MARCOS, Tex. -- The Appalachian State men's basketball team held Texas State to just 32.1 percent (9-of-28) shooting in the second half in a 59-56 road victory on Saturday.
A jumper by Shelby Adams of Texas State (14-11, 7-5 SBC) put the Bobcats in front 54-53. From there, the Mountaineers (10-15, 5-7 SBC) would not allow Texas State to make another field goal for the remaining 4:32 of the game.
The Black and Gold would jump in front 55-54 with 4:01 to play on a jumper from freshman
Justin Forrest (Decatur, Ga./Greenforest McCalep Christian Academy), only to see the Bobcats tie the game with 2:44 to go on a free throw from Eric Terry.
The Mountaineers would jump back in front 56-55 with 2:28 to go on a freebie from senior
Craig Hinton (Winston-Salem, N.C./East Forsyth). But the Bobcats were able to draw a foul a minute later and got a free throw from Nijal Pearson to tie the game at 56-56 with 1:13 to go.
From there, the Mountaineers would get one free throw from Forrest and one free throw from junior
Tyrell Johnson (Atlanta, Ga./Stephenson) to build a 58-56 advantage with 13 seconds left.
The Mountaineers dug in and forced a tough jumper from Pearson with six seconds remaining. Senior
Griffin Kinney (Delaware, Ohio/Fork Union Military Academy) was fouled battling for the rebound and drained a free throw to give App State a 59-56 edge with 2.6 seconds left in the game.
Texas State would get a look from the right corner to tie the game at the buzzer, but Tyler Blount's attempt was no good giving the Mountaineers the win.
In the first half, the Mountaineers used an early 7-0 run to take a 12-8 lead with just over 13 minutes left in the opening stanza.
The Black and Gold would build a seven-point lead at 25-18, only to see Texas State close the half on a 10-2 run to take a 28-27 advantage into the locker room.
Kinney paced the Mountaineers with game-highs of 17 points on 6-of-7 (85.7 percent) shooting, and seven rebounds. Junior
Ronshad Shabazz (Raleigh, N.C./Huntington Prep) chipped in with 15 points and two assists.
Pearson led Texas State with 14 points, while Blount added 10 points.
Overall, the Mountaineers held the Bobcats to 19-of-46 (41.3 percent) shooting. The Black and Gold went 22-of-48 (45.8 percent) from the field. The Apps also held a 32-26 advantage in the rebounding battle.
App State will be back at it on February 10, playing their third consecutive road game at Coastal Carolina. Tip is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
