STATESBORO, Ga. – Behind 24 points from
Adrian Delph and 16 from
Michael Almonacy, App State men's basketball pushed its winning streak to four games with a 70-62 victory at Georgia Southern on Saturday.
App State stands at 12-9 on the season and 6-2 in Sun Belt play for the second straight year. It marks the first time since the 2007-08 (7-1) and 2006-07 (6-2) that the Mountaineers have started 6-2 or better in conference play in back-to-back seasons.
Delph finished with 24 points on 9-of-16 (56.5 percent) shooting and a 4-of-7 (57.1 percent) mark from deep, three rebounds and three assists. Delph has now scored 20 or more points in six games this season, including his last three.
Almonacy dished out five assists and pulled down four rebounds, to go along with his 16 points. In addition, he also had five steals, which is a new career-high.
Justin Forrest also reached double figures with 13 points, while dishing out four assists and posting a pair of steals.
CJ Huntley added nine points on 4-of-5 (80.0 percent) shooting and a pair of blocks.
The Mountaineers used an early 8-0 run to jump out to a 12-7 lead, getting four points from Almonacy and Delph, along the way. App State pushed its lead to 11 points at 24-13 with 9:08 left in the opening half on a 3-pointer by Forrest. A 7-0 run by Georgia Southern (8-9, 1-5 SBC) later in the half brought them within a point, but the Mountaineers closed the stanza on a 7-0 run of their own to take a 37-29 lead into the intermission.
In the second half, the Mountaineers pushed their lead to 12 points on a 48-36 on a layup from Delph. The Eagles chipped away at the App State lead and used a 7-0 run to pull within two points at 57-55 with 6:15 remaining. The Mountaineers came right back with five consecutive points to push their lead back to 62-55. Following a Georgia Southern basket, App State scored four straight points to open a 66-57 lead with 1:40 to go. The Eagles pulled within seven points, but could get no closer the rest of the way.
App State forced Georgia Southern into an opponent season-high tying 17 turnovers, scoring 21 points off the miscues. In all, the Mountaineers finished with a season-best 12 steals.
In addition, App State also held a 13-7 edge in fast break points and limited Georgia Southern to just a 4-of-21 (19.0 percent) mark on 3-pointers.
The Mountaineers return to Boone and host Arkansas State on Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN+ in a meeting of two teams at the top of the Sun Belt standings. Tickets for the 2021-22 season are on sale and can be purchased by
clicking here.
