STATESBORO, Ga. -- App State men's basketball will conclude the regular season with a weekend series at Georgia Southern on Friday and Saturday. Friday's tip is set for 6 p.m. and Saturday's tip is scheduled for 3 p.m. Both contests can be seen on ESPN+ and heard across the Appalachian Sports Network from Learfield IMG College.
THE SERIES
- This is the 55th and 56th meeting between the two schools, with the Mountaineers leading 30-24.
- App State swept a weekend series in Boone on Jan. 8 and Jan. 9, winning 66-63 and 77-71.
- The Black and Gold have won four straight in the series, overcoming double digit deficits in each victory.
LAST TIME OUT
- App State fell at Georgia State on Tuesday 85-71.
- Michael Almonacy had a career high 24 points and went 9-of-14 (64.3 percent) from the field and 4-of-7 (57.1 percent) from deep, scoring 21 of his 24 points in the second half. He added six rebounds, three steals and a pair of assists. His 24-point output betters his previous career high of 21 set against Bowling Green earlier this season. Justin Forrest added 13 points, four assists and three rebounds. Adrian Delph also had 13 points and James Lewis Jr. chipped in with 12 points and seven rebounds.
- An early 3-pointer from Delph at the 18:18 mark of the opening half gave App State (12-10, 6-7 SBC) an early 5-4 edge. Georgia State (12-5, 6-4 SBC) answered with a 9-2 spurt to open a 13-7 advantage. The Panthers pushed their lead to 17-9, before App State stormed back with an 11-4 run to pull within a point at 21-20 halfway through the opening frame. The Panthers then used a 10-0 spurt to build a 34-23 edge and took a 41-31 lead into the intermission. The Mountaineers scored eight of the first 10 points to begin the second half to pull within four points at 43-39. The Panthers came right back with a 7-0 run to extend their lead back to 11 points at 50-39 with 16:43 to go. Georgia State extended its lead to 15 points, but App State chipped away and pulled within 66-58 on an Almonacy triple with 6:19 to play. The Panthers responded with seven straight points to push their lead back to 15 and put the game away.
SCOUTING THE MOUNTAINEERS
- App State stands at 12-10 on the season and 6-7 in Sun Belt play.Â
- Justin Forrest has reached double figures in four straight games, scoring 20 points twice, and is averaging 17.0 points.
- In conference play, James Lewis Jr. is averaging 11.4 points on 59.3 percent shooting and 7.2 rebounds. Overall, Lewis Jr. is shooting 59.6 percent from the field, which ranks third in the conference.
- Almonacy has reached double figures in scoring in 11 of his last 12 contests and is averaging 13.3 points during that span.
- The Mountaineers lead the Sun Belt in free throw percentage (75.8 percent) and rank second in opponent scoring (63.5 ppg) and opponent 3-point shooting (32.4 percent).
SCOUTING THE EAGLES
- Georgia Southern stands at 12-11 on the season and 6-8 in Sun Belt play after falling 65-55 to Coastal Carolina on Sunday.
- On Sunday, Elijah McCadden had 12 points in the game, while Cam Bryant and Gedi Juozapaitis each chipped in with 11 points.
- Zack Bryant (13.6 ppg) and Eric Boone (11.3 ppg) are both averaging double figures for the Eagles.
- Bryant is one of four players in the conference shooting 80.0 percent or better from the free throw line and sits fourth at 80.3 percent.
UP NEXT
The Mountaineers will head to Pensacola, Fla. for the Sun Belt Tournament, which runs from March 5 to March 8. The full bracket will be announced by the conference at a later date.
