App State Falls to Georgia State

BOONE, N.C. -- App State men's basketball dropped a 58-49 home contest to Georgia State on Saturday.

Adrian Delph finished with 12 points and seven rebounds. Delph has now reached double figures in 25 of 27 games this season.

Justin Forrest added 12 points off the bench. Michael Almonacy added nine points and a career-high tying eight rebounds and Donovan Gregory finished with nine points and six rebounds.

In the first half, the Panthers (11-10, 5-5 SBC) used an early 6-0 run to jump out to an 8-2 lead. App State (16-11, 10-4 SBC) scored the next four points, but Georgia State countered with the next nine points to take a 20-8 lead. Georgia State held a 28-16 lead at the break.

Georgia State pushed its lead to 14 points at 39-25 in the second half, before the Mountaineers countered with five straight points to pull within nine at 39-30. Following a Panther basket, App State scored the next six points, capped off by a three from Forrest, to cut the Georgia State lead to 41-36 with 10:29 left.

The Panthers extended their lead back to 10 points at 49-39, but App State answered with another 6-0 run to pull within 49-45 with 1:36 to go. Georgia State pushed its lead back to seven points and the Mountaineers pulled within five points again at 53-48 with 29 seconds to play. From there, the Panthers converted on three free throws and a layup in the final seconds to close out the win.

Jalen Thomas paced Georgia State with 16 points, five rebounds and a pair of blocks. 

App State continues its homestand on Thursday against Troy in a key Sun Belt matchup. Tip is set for 6:30 p.m. on ESPN+. Single game tickets for the 2021-22 season are on sale and can be purchased by clicking here.