MONROE, La. -- Appalachian State men's basketball will begin its final road trip of the regular season on Thursday at ULM at 8 p.m. EST. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+ and can be heard on the Appalachian Sports Network from Learfield IMG College.
THE SERIES
- This will be the eighth meeting all-time between the two schools, with the Warhawks holding a 4-3 edge.
- App State has won the last two meetings, including an 85-84 victory in Boone earlier this season on Feb. 2.
EARLIER THIS SEASON
- In the meeting between the two squads earlier this season, the Black and Gold posted a 85-84 victory.
- Justin Forrest scored 22 of his 32 points in the first half and finished the game 11-of-18 (61.1. percent) from the field and 6-of-9 (66.7 percent) from deep.
- Isaac Johnson added 13 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Ronshad Shabazz had 12 points and five assists and Adrian Delph tallied 11 points, including a 3-of-4 (75.0 percent) clip from deep. Off the bench, Tyrell Johnson reached double figures for the third time in his last four games with 11 points.
- Late in the contest, a pair of free throws from Isaac Johnson with 1:21 remaining allowed the Mountaineers (8-14, 3-6 SBC) to open an 85-82 lead. The Warhawks (11-10, 4-5 SBC) answered with a basket on their ensuing possession to cut the App State lead to 85-84. The Black and Gold came up empty on its next possession, but got a stop on ULM's next possession. Off the miss, Hunter Seacat grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 11 seconds left to play. He stepped to the line to shoot a one-and-one and missed the front end. ULM pulled down the rebound and Michael Ertel drove the lane and had his shot blocked by Hunter Seacat. The Warhawks' JD Williams grabbed the loose ball and put up an off balance jumper that was no good. ULM could not get off another as shot as the buzzer sounded to give the Mountaineers the thrilling win.
LAST TIME OUT
- App State dropped a 92-69 contest at home on Saturday to Georgia Southern.
- Justin Forrest tallied a team-high 15 points, two rebounds and a steal for App State. Ronshad Shabazz added 12 points, four rebounds and two steals. Hunter Seacat added nine points and six rebounds, while Isaac Johnson tallied eight points, a game-high 12 rebounds, a team-high three assists and two steals. Johnson had now reached double figures in the rebounding department 11 times this season. Adrian Delph chipped in with eight points and a game-high three steals.
- Ronshad Shabazz broke an early 5-5 tie with a three-pointer and the Mountaineers pushed their lead to 11-7 with 15:20 left in the opening half on a trey from Bennett Holley. Georgia Southern (18-10, 10-5 SBC) used a 7-0 spurt to open a 20-13 lead, only to see the Black and Gold trim its deficit to 24-21 with just over nine minutes left in the opening half. From there, the Eagles closed the half on a 28-13 run to take a 52-34 edge into the break. Trailing 57-39 early in the second half, the Mountaineers scored eight consecutive points to cut the Eagles lead to 57-47 with 14:01 remaining in the game. Georgia Southern pushed its lead back to 16 points at 66-50 and put the game away with a late 9-3 run.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
- The Black and Gold stand at 9-18 on the season and 4-10 in Sun Belt play.
- After his 12-rebound performance on Saturday, Isaac Johnson had recorded double digit rebounds in 11 games this season.
- Ronshad Shabazz now had 1,960 points in his career and is just 40 points shy of becoming the second player in program history to reach 2,000 career points, joining Donald Sims.
- Justin Forrest has reached double figures in scoring in 10 of his last 11 games and is averaging 17.4 points during that span.
- The Mountaineers have scored 80 or more points in 12 games this season and are 8-4 when pouring in at least points.
SCOUTING THE WARHAWKS
- ULM dropped a double overtime contest at UT Arlington by a 91-86 score on Saturday to drop to 14-12 and 7-7 in Sun Belt play.
- Daishon Smith had 34 points and six rebounds, while Michael Ertel added 22 points, six rebounds and five assists. Travis Munnings had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds and JD Williams also reached double figures in scoring with 12 points.
- Smith currently ranks second in the league in scoring at 22.0 ppg and is shooting a league best 88.6 percent from the free throw line.
- As a team, the Warhawks lead the league in free throw percentage (.789) and rank second in three-point percentage (.387).
UP NEXT
The Mountaineers will play their final road game of the regular season on Sunday at Louisiana at 2:30 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and can be heard on the Appalachian Sports Network from Learfield IMG College.
