BOONE, N.C. -- App State men's basketball never trailed en route to a 69-51 Senior Day victory over South Alabama on Saturday.
All four Mountaineer seniors reached double figures.
Adrian Delph led the way with six 3-pointers to finish with 20 points and six rebounds,
Justin Forrest added 13 points and six rebounds,
Michael Almonacy hit four 3-pointers to finish with 12 points, three rebounds and three assists and
James Lewis Jr. had a near double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.
Donovan Gregory had a solid all around game finishing with eight points, eight rebounds and a career-high 10 assists.
The victory clinches the third consecutive winning season for App State (17-12, 11-5 SBC). The last time the Mountaineers posted three straight winning seasons was from the 1997-98 season to the 1999-2000 campaign.
Delph opened the game with back-to-back threes to give App State a 6-0 lead. The Mountaineers pushed their lead to 16-7, before South Alabama (18-9, 8-5 SBC) scored seven consecutive points to pull within two points at 16-14 with 9:22 left in the opening half. Leading 21-19, the Black and Gold held the Jaguars scoreless for the final 3:45 and scored nine straight points to take a 30-19 lead into the break.
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App State stayed in control in the second half, using an early 9-0 spurt to open a 42-21 advantage with 17:07 left to play. The Mountaineers pushed their lead to 22 points at 51-29 with just under 13 minutes remaining. South Alabama could get no closer than 16 points the rest of the way, as App State posted its 11th home win of the season.
In all, App State dished out a season-high tying 22 assists on 26 made field goals.Â
The Mountaineers limited the Jaguars to just 36.8 percent (21-of-57) shooting, including 26.9 percent (7-of-26) in the first half.Â
Marshall Kearing had 14 points and four rebounds off the bench to pace South Alabama.
The Mountaineers hit the road next week to close out the regular season, beginning on Wednesday night at Little Rock at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN+.
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