ATLANTA – With the score tied at 48 with 1:16 to play in regulation, App State had the ball looking to take a late lead. The ball swung around the perimeter before it found
Kasen Jennings in the corner. Jennings calmly stepped into his shot and nailed the go-ahead 3-pointer. The App State Men's Basketball team held its lead until the horn sounded, picking up a grinded-out 52-50 road win over the Georgia State Panthers on Thursday.
The Mountaineers' (10-7, 3-2 SBC) 52 points in their win marked the fewest they have scored in a victory since Feb. 9, 2023, against ULM (also scored 52 points in a 52-45 win). App State's defense was strong in Atlanta, as it held Georgia State (5-12, 2-3 SBC) to just a 32.8 field-goal percentage and a 22.2 percent mark from deep. This stellar showing by App State came just four days after Georgia State made 17 3-pointers in a win over Coastal Carolina.
Rebounding, specifically on the offensive end of the floor, played a crucial role in App State's victory over the Panthers, as it won the rebound battle by 16 (49-33). App State's hustle and drive on the offensive glass led to several extra possessions.
Michael Marcus Jr. grabbed eight of his career-best 14 rebounds on offense, which helped lead to 13 second-chance points.
Jalen Tot, who made his first start of the season on Thursday, paced App State in scoring with 14 points, which fell two short of his season high of 16. Tot buried four 3-pointers, his third straight game with at least four made threes, and grabbed a season-best five rebounds.
Luke Wilson tallied his fifth double-double of the year with 14 points and a career-best 13 rebounds, while also hitting a clutch free throw with two seconds left to help seal the road win.
How it Happened
Both teams got off to a sluggish start in App State's third straight road game, but it was the Mountaineers who cracked the scoreboard first after Tot picked off a pass and raced down to the other end for a score. Georgia State scored the next seven points to take a quick 7-2 lead by the 14:42 mark, but
Alonzo Dodd stopped the run with a basket in the paint to make it a three-point game.
Jason Clarke Jr. answered a Panther free throw with a layup to cut App State's deficit down to two with 13 minutes to play in the opening half, but Georgia State responded by scoring four straight to go up by six by the under-12 timeout. The Panthers would take a four-point lead into the under-eight media break, but back-to-back dunks by Wilson off sweet assists by
Jacari Brim and Dodd cut App State's deficit back down to two by the 6:49 mark.
Georgia State went back ahead by six thanks to two straight baskets with just under six minutes to go. Now trailing by six, App State saw two straight 3-pointers from Tot find the bottom of the net to tie the score at 21 in a matter of two possessions.
With the score now tied for the first time since it was 2-2, the Panthers responded by scoring four of the next six points to take a two-point lead as play hit halftime.
Chad Moodie scored his first points of the game before the break, but a late jumper by Malachi Brown gave the Panthers a slim lead.
The Panthers led for all but 15 seconds in the opening half on Thursday, as they took advantage of a slow start from App State. Tot paced all scorers in the first 20 minutes with eight points, but App State shot just 10-29 (34.5 percent) from the field to open the game.
Another basket by Brown pushed the Panthers ahead by five out of halftime, but Tot's third 3-pointer of the contest fell through to pull the Mountaineers back within two at the 18:38 mark of the second half. A layup by Marcus Jr. knotted the score at 28 a few possessions later before Micah Tucker sent Georgia State back ahead with a score.
Georgia State again took a six-point lead out of the under-16 media break with the help of a nearly three-minute App State scoring drought. Wilson ended the cold spell with a free throw, which kick-started a 5-0 App State run that saw buckets by Jennings and Dodd to make it a one-point contest. A possession later, App State took its first lead since it was 2-0 after Dodd found Marcus Jr. along the baseline for an easy layup.
A basket by Georgia State gave it the lead back as play hit the under-12 timeout, and the Panthers extended that lead back to four thanks to an and-one layup by Jelani Hamilton. That lead grew to six after Hamilton netted another pair of free throws, but Wilson calmed the fray with a tip-in layup at the 8:08 mark to make it a four-point game as play neared the final horn.
App State again took the lead at 42-41 after Wilson and Tot connected on baskets. Georgia State reclaimed a brief lead after four straight free throws, but Dodd tied the score at 44 with a driving layup at the final media timeout of the game.
After Georgia State took another lead with a free throw, Jennings drove in hard and got fouled, which resulted in two free throws from the Atlanta native to put App State back on top by one. Another pair of freebies by Wilson gave App State a 3-point lead with 2:46 to play, but the Panthers tied the score on their next possession with a 3-pointer by Hamilton.
Needing a score to avoid overtime, App State turned to Jennings, who has proven to be clutch this season for App State, to take the lead. The ball swung around the perimeter before finding Jennings, and the graduate student calmly nailed the go-ahead 3-pointer from the corner. This forced a Georgia State timeout with 1:07 to play.
Tucker snuck his way into the lane for a layup out of the timeout to make the score 51-50 with 52 seconds to play. After a missed three on offense, App State forced a miss by Georgia State, and the rebound fell into Wilson's hands, which drew a quick Panther foul. The big man stepped to the line and drilled one-of-two free throws, putting App State ahead 52-50 with four seconds left in the game.
Georgia State grabbed the rebound off the missed Wilson free throw and called a timeout. Needing to go the length of the floor in two seconds, the Panthers found Brown, who threw up a half-court heave that fell just short. The final horn sounded with App State on top.
Top Performers
Three App State players finished in double figures against the Panthers in Tot, Wilson and Jennings. Tot scored 14 points on four made 3-pointers, while Wilson tallied his fifth double-double in his last eight games with 14 points and a career-best 13 boards. Jennings totaled 10 points and overcame a poor shooting night with seven huge points in the final frame. Although he only scored four points, Marcus Jr. played a huge role in the win, as he totaled a career-best 14 rebounds, with eight coming on the offensive glass. His hustle down low helped lead to key extra possessions.
Up Next
The Mountaineers will conclude their season-long four-game road trip in Conway, S.C., on Saturday with a contest against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. Tip off from the HTC Center is slated for 1 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
