BOONE, N.C. – Leading by just four points with eight minutes to play,
Eren Banks buried a momentum-shifting 3-pointer from the corner after
Jalen Tot swiped the ball away from Eastern Michigan on the other end of the floor. This Banks 3-pointer turned the tide fully in favor of the App State men's basketball team, as it pulled ahead by as many as nine points down the stretch and secured a 65-60 win over the Eagles as part of the MAC-SBC Challenge. The win was App State's sixth in a row.
App State (17-9) secured the win on Saturday after
Alonzo Dodd drove toward the basket for a layup through contact to push the Mountaineers ahead by seven with 1:09 to play in the game. Once he cemented his three-point play at the free-throw line, the App State faithful knew it had clinched another home win.
The Mountaineers' strong defense did enough to overcome a less-than-stellar offensive performance, as they allowed just 60 points to the Eagles (9-15), marking the third straight game that the Mountaineers have held their opponent to less than 60 points. App State kept the Eagles to a 39.7 percent field-goal percentage and a 6-22 mark from behind the arc. App State has held each of its last six opponents below 40 percent from the field.
Saturday's win over Eastern Michigan also secured a fifth straight 10-win season at home for the Mountaineers, which marks the first time App State has posted five straight 10-win seasons on its home floor in its Division I era. The Mountaineers' win on Wednesday against South Alabama clinched a win percentage of .500 or better for the seventh straight year.
How it Happened
The Mountaineers fell behind by three points early on after Eastern Michigan's Jon Sanders drilled a 3-pointer from the right wing on an offensive rebound. App State didn't make that deficit last long, as
Luke Wilson, Tot and
Chad Moodie combined to post a 9-2 run, which put App State on top 13-9 by the 13:12 mark of the first half.
Kasen Jennings sent action to the under-12 media timeout with a basket, but Eastern Michigan worked to tie the score at 17 after trailing by four points with another Sanders 3-pointer. The Eagles eventually regained the lead at 21-19, but Moodie and Wilson made their presence known with scores down low to push App State ahead by one with four minutes to play in the half.
Another floater by Jennings and two quick scores by Dodd turned a tie game into a four-point App State lead as play neared halftime. Banks extended the Mountaineers' lead up to a first-half high six points with a three, but Eastern Michigan got the last score in the opening half from behind the arc, which closed App State's lead down to just three points when the horn sounded.
Eastern Michigan opened the second half with a score to pull within one point by the 17:32 mark of the second half. Tot took a pass from Jennings after an offensive rebound and converted a layup before Jennings connected on a free throw to push App State ahead by four points before the first media timeout.
App State's lead eventually grew to six points after Moodie threw down a fast-break dunk. Now seeing their largest deficit of the second half, the Eagles quickly turned App State's six-point lead into a one-point lead by scoring six of the next seven points before the under-12 timeout.
Out of the break, App State jumped back ahead by six after a Dodd 3-pointer in the corner, and when the Eagles answered with four straight points to make the score 49-47, Dodd and Banks rallied to score five straight points, which pushed App State ahead by seven points and swung the momentum fully in favor of App State down the stretch.
The Eagles cut their deficit back down to five points by the final media timeout of the game, but a pull-up jumper by Jennings and a strong finish by Dodd pushed the Mountaineers ahead by seven points once again with just over a minute left in the contest. Dodd's and-one layup pushed him over the 20-point threshold for the sixth time this season.
After forcing a miss on the defensive side, App State charged ahead by a game-high nine points with 14 seconds to play thanks to Dodd and Banks connecting on a pair of free throws. Eastern Michigan scored four of the final five points in the game, but Banks' big 3-pointer and Dodd's strong finish through contact helped App State secure its sixth-straight victory in gritty fashion.
Top Performers
Dodd led all scorers on Saturday with 23 points, which marked his sixth 20-point outing of the season. Dodd played a major role in App State securing the win in the second half, as 13 of his points came in the second half and he shot 6-9 from the charity stripe in the closing 20 minutes. Despite battling foul trouble for most of the game, Wilson was dominant in his 23 minutes, recording a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. It marks his second straight double-double. Banks provided a huge spark on both sides of the ball off the bench, as he posted 10 points, five rebounds, and a team-best two steals. Banks was responsible for several momentum-shifting plays in the contest.
Up Next
The Mountaineers will jump back into their conference slate on Wednesday by hitting the road to face the Georgia Southern Eagles. Tipoff from Statesboro, Ga., is slated for 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
