MOBILE, Ala.— App State men's basketball dropped a 73-64 road Sun Belt contest at South Alabama on Friday evening.
Donovan Gregory paced the Mountaineers (9-5, 3-2 SBC) with a team-high 14 points, five rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals.
Michael Almonacy added 12 points and four assists.
Adrian Delph had nine points and a season-high eight rebounds and
James Lewis Jr. finished with eight points and four rebounds.
CJ Huntley tallied eight points and four rebounds and
Michael Eads added a career-best eight points.
App State scored the first six points of the game and jumped out to an early 15-5 lead. After a South Alabama (8-6, 2-3 SBC) 3-pointer, the Mountaineers went on an 8-0 run to open a 23-8 advantage with 11:06 left in the first half. South Alabama chipped away at the lead and pulled within six points, before Delph answered with a 3-pointer to push the Black and Gold lead to 33-24 with 3:12 remaining in the opening frame. The Mountaineers took a 37-30 advantage into the break.
After the Jaguars scored the first point of the second half, App State used a dunk from Huntley to extend its lead to 39-31. South Alabama pulled within 39-35, before a pair of Huntley free throws gave the Mountaineers a 41-35 lead with 17:35 left.
The Jaguars answered right back with three consecutive 3-pointers to jump in front 44-41. Following a Gregory layup, South Alabama scored five straight points to open a 49-43 edge with 13:43 left to play. App State came right back with a basket, only to see the Jaguars drain back-to-back threes to push their lead to 54-46.
The Mountaineers pulled within four points at 54-50, but South Alabama extended its lead to 10 points at 67-57 with 5:08 remaining. The Jaguars opened as large of a lead as 12 points down the stretch and the Black and Gold pulled within nine, but could get no closer.
App State finished with 17 assists on 25 made field goals. In addition, the Mountaineers held a 32-20 edge in points in the paint.
Michael Flowers led all scorers with 31 points and Jamal West pulled down 13 rebounds for South Alabama.
The two teams will meet again on Saturday in Mobile at 5 p.m. EST on ESPN+ and the Appalachian Sports Network from Learfield IMG College.
App State men's basketball would like to thank the Law Offices of Timothy Welborn as its 2020-21 season sponsor.
