Four Reach Double Figures in Men's Basketball 65-61 Win Over Georgia Southern

BOONE, N.C. -- For the fourth time in its last five games, App State men's basketball saw four players reach double figures in a 65-61 victory over Georgia Southern on Thursday evening.

Adrian Delph posted his second straight double-double and third of the season with a game-high 19 points and a career-high 11 rebounds (five offensive). Donovan Gregory added 15 points and eight rebounds.

Michael Almonacy chipped in with 15 points and James Lewis Jr. tallied 10 points (all in the second half) and five rebounds (four offensive).

The Mountaineers stand at 16-10 on the season and 10-3 in Sun Belt play. The 10-3 start is the best for the Black and Gold since joining the Sun Belt and best for the program since 2006-07.

In the first half, the Mountaineers used back-to-back threes from Delph and Almonacy to take a 10-9 lead. With the score knotted at 19-19, App State scored four straight points. Following a Georgia Southern (11-11, 4-7 SBC) basket, Delph converted on an old-fashioned 3-point play to push the App State lead to 26-21 with 6:05 left. The Mountaineers pushed their edge to 29-22 on a trey from Delph, but the Eagles cut the App State lead to 33-29 at the break.

The Eagles pulled within a point in the second half, but the Mountaineers pushed their lead to eight points with a 9-2 run to open a 44-36 lead with 14:26 remaining. App State's edge grew to 11 points at 51-40 on a dunk from Gregory with 8:45 left. 

Later in the half, Georgia Southern used an 8-0 run to pull within four points at 58-54 with 2:57 to go. The Mountaineers used a pair of free throws from Lewis Jr. to push their advantage back to six points, but the Eagles pulled within three points at 62-59 with 26 seconds left. App State answered with a free throw from Forrest to open a 63-59 lead. Georgia Southern pulled within two points with 14 seconds to go, but Delph was fouled and converted a pair of free throws with 12 seconds remaining to give App State a 65-61 lead. The Mountaineers got a defensive stop and ran out the clock for the victory.

The Mountaineers finished 18-of-22 (81.8 percent) from the charity stripe and also pulled down 14 offensive rebounds, scoring 13 second chance points.

Andrei Savrasov led four Eagles in double figures with 13 points.

App State continues its four-game homestand on Saturday, hosting Georgia State at 4 p.m. on ESPN+. Single game tickets for the 2021-22 season are on sale and can be purchased by clicking here.