BOONE, N.C. --
James Lewis Jr. posted his second double-double of the season as App State men's basketball completed a weekend sweep of Georgia State with a 74-61 victory on Saturday.
The victory bumps the Mountaineers record to 12-5 on the season and 6-2 in conference play. App State's 6-2 conference record keeps them atop the Sun Belt East Division and is the best start in conference play since the 2007-08 season, when the Black and Gold also started 6-2. In addition, the Mountaineers 12-5 start is the best through the first 17 games since the 2006-07 team that began the season 13-4.
Lewis Jr. finished with App State career highs of 22 points and 14 rebounds (eight offensive). He went 7-of-11 (63.6 percent) from the field and added three steals and a block.
Donovan Gregory chipped in 14 points on 5-of-7 (71.4 percent) and six rebounds.
Justin Forrest and
Michael Almonacy each added 13 points for App State.
After the Panthers (8-4, 2-3 SBC) jumped out to a 16-7 lead, App State stormed back with a 19-3 run, capped by a pair of Gregory free throws, to open a 26-19 lead with 6:12 left in the first half. Following a Georgia State trey, the Mountaineers answered with six straight points to take a 32-22 edge with 3:50 remaining in the half.
Georgia State came right back with four straight points, before the Mountaineers closed the half with the final five points. Forrest capped the scoring in the first half with a 3-pointer from just inside half court in the final moments to give the Black and Gold a 37-26 advantage heading into the locker room.
The Panthers opened the second half on a 14-5 run to pull within two points at 42-40. The Mountaineers countered with the next four points, but Georgia State pulled within four points again at 48-44 with 8:01 left to play.
From there, the Mountaineers responded with an 11-2 spurt to open a 59-46 advantage with 4:35 to play. A 3-pointer from Almonacy less than a minute later gave the Black and Gold its largest lead of the game at 63-48 with just under four minutes left to play.
Georgia State pulled within 11 points late, but could get no closer as App State finished off the weekend sweep.
App State held the Panthers, who entered the game as the second ranked offense in the Sun Belt, to 21-of-52 (40.4 percent) shooting and just a 3-of-17 (17.6 percent) clip from deep. The Mountaineers also turned 13 Georgia State turnovers into 17 points and held a 32-20 edge in points in the paint.
The Black and Gold won the rebounding battle 40-29, including 15-8 on the offensive glass.
The Mountaineers will hit the road to begin a four-game road swing next weekend at Troy. The two teams will square off on Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. EST and on Jan. 30 at 5 p.m. EST. Both contests will be broadcast on ESPN+ and can be heard on 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.
