NEW ORLEANS, La. – Appalachian State scored the first seven points of the game and never looked back en route to a 93-64 victory over Little Rock in the First Round of the Sun Belt Tournament on Wednesday afternoon at Lakefront Arena.
The fifth seeded Mountaineers (15-17) advance to the Sun Belt Tournament Quarterfinals and will take on fourth seed UT Arlington on Friday at 3 p.m. EST (2 p.m. CST).
The victory is the first for App State in the Sun Belt Tournament since they joined the league in the 2014-15 season. In addition, the 29-point margin of victory is the largest in the postseason for the Black and Gold since they defeated Barton 82-50 in the 1949 North State Conference Tournament.
A total of five Mountaineers reached double figures in the win. Sophomore
O'Showen Williams (Macon, Ga./Stratford Academy) poured in a career-high 22 points on 6-of-8 (75.0 percent) shooting and a perfect 3-of-3 clip on three-pointers. He also had three steals. Williams' six made field goals also tied a career-high.
Freshman
Justin Forrest (Decatur, Ga./Greenforest McCalep Christian Academy) had 19 points on 6-of-8 (75.0 percent) shooting and a 4-of-5 (80.0 percent) mark from beyond the arc.
Senior
Griffin Kinney (Delaware, Ohio/Fork Union Military Academy) finished with 12 points, six rebounds and a career-high tying four assists, while junior
Ronshad Shabazz (Raleigh, N.C./Huntington Prep) also tallied 12 points, to go along with five assists.
Sophomore
Isaac Johnson (Charlotte, N.C./Providence Day) posted his third double-double of the season with 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Mountaineers came out of the gate strong, scoring the first seven points to build a 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the game.
The Black and Gold continued to expand their lead in the first half and used a 9-0 run to open a 24-10 advantage with 11:08 left in the first half.
The Trojans would trim the App State lead to just six points, but the Black and Gold outscored Little Rock 14-1 over the final 3:25 to take a 46-25 lead into the half.
In the second half, the Trojans would trim the Mountaineer lead to 17 points. But the Apps responded with 10 straight points to build their lead back to 74-47 and put the game away.
App State was red hot from the field, shooting 55.6 percent (30-of-54) and going 12-of-22 (54.5 percent) on three-pointers. The Mountaineers also had 18 assists on their 30 made field goals.
