BOONE, N.C. -- App State men's basketball overcame a 15-point halftime deficit in a 70-65 win over 10th seed Coastal Carolina on Monday evening.
The Mountaineers victory is App State's second ever win in the Sun Belt Tournament. The Mountaineers (18-14) advance to the Sun Belt Tournament Quarterfinals and will take on third seed Texas State on Wednesday evening at 8 p.m. EST.
The Chanticleers (16-17) shot 55.2 percent (16-of-29) from the field in the opening half and took a 37-22 lead into halftime.
In the second half, App State scored the first five points out of the locker room to trim its deficit to 37-27. Following a Coastal Carolina basket, the Mountaineers reeled off six consecutive points to pull within 39-35 with 14:43 remaining. Coastal Carolina pushed its lead back to nine points, before the Mountaineers drew within two on a basket by
Hunter Seacat with 8:13 remaining.
The Chanticleers pushed their lead back to 55-50, before the Black and Gold stormed back with a 10-2 run to open a 60-57 edge with 4:32 left. Coastal Carolina scored on its next possession, but the Mountaineers came right back with layups from
Justin Forrest and
Isaac Johnson to take a 64-59 lead with just over two minutes remaining.
Coastal Carolina eventually cut the App State lead a point at 66-65, before
O'Showen Williams drained a pair of free throws to make the score 68-65 with 17 seconds left. App State got a defensive stop on a game tying three in the closing seconds and Johnson pulled down the rebound and iced the game with a pair of free throws.
Johnson tallied his team-high eighth double-double of the season with a career-high 24 points and 10 rebounds. Forrest added 13 points off the bench and Williams had 13 points, six rebounds and six assists for App State.
Seacat also reached double figures in scoring with 12 points on 5-of-6 (83.3 percent) shooting, to go along with five rebounds and three assists.
App State held a brief 37-36 edge in rebounding, including a 13-7 advantage on the offensive glass. The Mountaineers also shot 60.9 percent (14-of-23) from the field in the second half and finished 22-of-53 (41.5 percent) in the game.
App State men's basketball would like to thank AutoStar Nissan as its presenting sponsor for the 2019-20 season.
