JONESBORO, Ark. -- Appalachian State men's basketball dropped a 82-81 overtime decision at Arkansas State in a Sun Belt road contest on Thursday evening.
App State (5-14, 0-6 SBC) opened up a 36-18 first half lead, only to see a late run by the Red Wolves (9-11, 3-4 SBC) cut its lead to 43-34 at the break.
In the second half, Arkansas State continued to chip away at the Mountaineer lead and jumped in front 65-64 with 3:24 left to play. The Red Wolves pushed their lead up to 70-64, before two three-pointers from
Ronshad Shabazz tied the score at 70-70. An Arkansas State three-point attempt at the buzzer was not good, sending the game into overtime.
In the extra session,
Tyrell Johnson put the Black and Gold in front with the first two points. Arkansas State answered with the next five points, before the Mountaineers answered with the next four points to open a 76-75 lead with 1:41 to play.Â
Arkansas State took the lead back with a trey, only to see App State get an old-fashioned three-point play from
Isaac Johnson with 1:10 left to play to take a 79-78 advantage. Arkansas State drew an intentional foul on
Justin Forrest to take an 80-79 lead with 41 seconds left. The Red Wolves also received the ball but could not score and
Ronshad Shabazz forced a turnover. His shot for the lead missed and Canberk Kus of Arkansas State grabbed the rebound. He was fouled on the play by
O'Showen Williams, but Kus was also called for a technical foul.
The Red Wolves were given two free throws and Tristin Walley stepped to the line and drained both freebies. App State also received two free throws and Shabazz drained both attempts to make the score 82-81 in favor of Arkansas State with 0.9 seconds left. The Mountaineers also were given the ball due to the technical foul. The ensuing inbound pass by the Black and Gold was deflected and a desperation three by App State was no good, giving Arkansas State the one-point victory.
Forrest paced the Mountaineers with a team-high 24 points, including a season-best six three-pointers, to go along with a team-high four assists. Shabazz added 22 points and a season-high tying six rebounds.
Off the bench,
Tyrell Johnson tallied 13 points and five rebounds.
Bennett Holley added eight points and a career-high nine rebounds.
App State finished 24-of-58 (41.4 percent) from the field, while Arkansas State was 31-of-70 (44.3 percent).
The Mountaineers will close out their three-game road trip on Saturday at Little Rock. Tip is set for 4 p.m. EST on ESPN+ and across the Appalachian IMG Sports Network.
