ATHENS, Ohio – Enduring a 6-0 run to close the opening half in Athens to trail by six at halftime, the App State Men's Basketball team (15-9, 8-4 SBC) dominated the second half of play at the Convocation Center, outscoring the Ohio Bobcats (12-11, 6-4 MAC) by 19 points to run away with a 72-59 victory in the MAC-SBC Challenge. App State allowed just 59 points against Ohio, marking the team's 23rd win in a row when allowing 60 points or fewer.
It was a back-and-forth affair that saw six lead changes and 10 ties, but with the score tied at 44 with 13:51 to play, App State outscored the Bobcats 28-15 to take command of the game. The Mountaineers used a key 13-0 run over a five-minute stretch and never looked back.
Myles Tate and
Dior Conners played a large part in putting App State in control as the two combined to score all but two of App State's 13 points during the run.
The Mountaineer defense was superb yet again against Ohio, as they held the Bobcats to their second-lowest scoring output of the season and a season-low four made three-pointers. Ohio entered play on Saturday scoring 80 points a game, the third-highest mark in the Mid-American Conference, while making nine 3-pointers a game. Over the past two contests, App State has held its opponents to just six made shots from the long line on 40 attempts (15 percent).
After seeing his double-digit scoring streak stop at 13 games against Southern Miss,
Myles Tate provided the best game of his career against the Bobcats with a career-high 27 points on 8-16 shooting. It was his third 20-point outing in his last four games and the 11th of the season. Along with Tate's scoring,
Dior Conners played a huge role in bringing App State ahead early in the second half as 11 of his 14 points came in the second half, including eight in the first five minutes of play. Returning to his home state of Ohio and seeing several of his family members in the stands, the Columbus, Ohio, native provided his fourth double-digit scoring game since Dec. 18.
How it Happened
In the second leg of the 2024-25 MAC-SBC Challenge, App State and Tate started the scoring with a tough jump shot from the left elbow. Jackson Paveletzke tied the game at two, but Tate drilled another tough turn-around shot to give him four early points.
Alonzo Dodd answered an Ohio basket with his first points to make it 6-4 App State with 18:06 to play.
Ohio took its first lead of the game at 7-6 thanks to a 3-pointer by AJ Brown, but Conners countered to put the Mountaineers back ahead with a three of his own. The Bobcats tied the score for the third time in the first five minutes of the game before
Jalil Beaubrun backed his way into the paint for a layup, giving the Mountaineers an 11-9 lead at the under-16 timeout.
Tate quickly extended the slim App State advantage to four points out of the break, giving him six points in the first 10 Mountaineer possessions. The Bobcats weren't fazed by Tate's hot start and tied the game again at 13 apiece with 9:50 to play in the half.
The two teams struggled to break away from one another as play continued with neither team seeing a lead of more than four points for the next four minutes of game action. Tate went to the free-throw line and buried three shots to make the score 16-13, and then
Jamil Muttilib buried a 3-pointer from the left wing to push App State ahead four points with 9:16 to go in the opening half.
After the third media timeout of the first half, the Mountaineers saw their lead shoot to five points thanks to Beaubrun's muscle down low. Looking to respond, Ohio scored each of the game's next eight points to take a three-point lead, its largest lead of the game to that point, as the Mountaineer offense went cold.
A slick pass from Tate to find Dodd at the wing resulted in a three to tie the game at 26, but the Mountaineers scored just two more points over the final four minutes. Taking advantage of this, the Bobcats stormed ahead by scoring the half's final six points to take a six-point lead into the locker room. App State scored just five points over the final seven minutes of action in the first frame.
Hot first halves by Tate and Beaubrun helped lead App State offensively in the opening stanza as the two combined to score 15 of the 28 Mountaineer points. However, Ohio used a hot-shooting half of its own to take the lead. The Bobcats buried 14 of their 26 shot attempts, good for a 54 percent mark.
The Mountaineers wasted no time to take the lead back in the second half. Conners started things by nailing a long two in transition before Beaubrun scored four straight points to make it a two-point game. Then, Conners drilled a deep three from the left wing to soar App State ahead 37-36, which forced a Jeff Boals timeout.
Ohio responded with a basket to reclaim the lead, but the eighth points of the second half by Conners gave the Mountaineers a two-point lead by the under-16 timeout. Free throws by Brown tied the game yet again at 40 apiece before Tate and
Luke Wilson, who played a quality 14 minutes off the bench, gave App State the lead right back with 13:59 to go.
With the score tied for the 10th and final time after Paveletzke scored, a free throw by Wilson gave App State a 45-44 lead with 12:51 to play. The Mountaineers never looked back from then on. Wilson's free throw started a 13-0 run over the next three minutes of game time. Tate started his electrifying second half with back-to-back layups to push the Mountaineers ahead six by the under-12 timeout.
Conners continued his dynamite shooting in the second half with his third 3-pointer before Tate collected an errant pass and deposited the ball through the net to balloon the Mountaineers ahead by 12. Beaubrun capped off the run with a free throw, putting App State up 13 at the eight-minute mark.
Shareef Mitchell finally stopped the run with a jump shot at the elbow, but App State couldn't be stopped as Wilson powered home a dunk off a no-look dime from Dodd to make the score 60-47 App State by the under-four timeout. A free throw by Tate sent the Mountaineers ahead by 14 with 2:43 to play, the team's largest lead of the game to that point.
Tate continued to torch the net at the charity stripe, sinking four straight freebies to give him 24 points with 1:14 to go. A pair of
CJ Huntley free throws put App State back up by 13 points, and then a step-back three by Tate with time fading on the shot clock splashed through to give him a career-high 27 points and putting the Mountaineers up by 16 points, their largest advantage of the game.
The Bobcats sunk a late three to give them their final tally of 59 points, but it didn't matter. App State's furious second half culminated with a double-digit win. The Mountaineers shot 56 percent from the field in the final stanza, which included a 5-10 mark from behind the arc.
Top Performers
Myles Tate's career day highlighted action in Athens as the senior from Spartanburg, S.C., tallied a career-best 27 points on 8-16 shooting. The point guard also dished out seven assists and grabbed five rebounds in his 37 minutes.
Dior Conners provided a necessary spark to open the second half and finished with 14 points. Playing in his home state, Conners sunk four 3-pointers, his ninth game this season with at least three makes from the long line.
Jalil Beaubrun also eclipsed double figures in the win with 11, marking his sixth straight game scoring at least 10 points.
Up Next
App State will jump back into Sun Belt Conference play on Thursday, this time taking a trip to Conway, S.C., to take on the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. It will be the second and final regular-season meeting between the two teams. Tipoff from the HTC Center is set for 7 p.m. and the contest can be streamed on ESPN+.
The 2024-25 men's basketball season is presented by Foscoe Companies.
