Doris Blevins Bennett
February 21, 2025WBB: Mountaineers Drop Contest to James Madison
February 23, 2025MBB: Men’s Basketball Falls in Final 2024-25 Home Contest
Feb. 22, 2025
Contact: Jacob Plecker (pl*******@ap******.edu)
Box Score: Attached
BOONE, N.C. – On a day that the App State Men’s Basketball team honored its five seniors and retired Darryl Robinson’s jersey at halftime, the Mountaineers dropped their final home contest of the season 69-59 against the Marshall Thundering Herd on Saturday. Marshall used a big run to open the second half and didn’t look back to claim the win in Boone.
App State (17-11, 10-6 SBC) retired its first jersey in program history at halftime of the game. Robinson, who was the leading scorer on App State’s first NCAA Tournament team in 1979, was joined by his fellow Men’s Basketball alumni on the court and his jersey was unveiled in the rafters.
The Mountaineers led at halftime in what was a tight opening frame but struggled to shoot the ball coming out of halftime, which allowed the Thundering Herd (17-12, 10-6 SBC) to pull ahead. The Mountaineers trailed by as much as 10 points in the final stanza but pulled back within one by the 7:04 mark. Despite the flurry by the Mountaineers, the Herd composed themselves and pulled away as App State finished the game by missing eight of its final nine shots.
After being recognized for all his contributions to the program before the game, CJ Huntley matched his career high against Marshall on Saturday with 27 points. The senior from Huntersville electrified the Holmes Center crowd of 4,310 in the first half as he scored 17 points and shot 4-4 from 3-point land. Jalil Beaubrun and Myles Tate, who were also honored before the game, joined Huntley in double figures as Beaubrun scored 13 and Tate tallied 10.
How it Happened
After all the pregame festivities concluded, App State won the opening tip and scored first as Huntley corralled a miss and dropped home a layup. The Mountaineers scored the game’s first four points thanks to Beaubrun’s first score and then went up 7-2 less than two minutes into the game after Huntley hit on his first 3-point attempt.
Marshall scored to make it 7-4, but Tate and Jackson Threadgill rang the net with back-to-back scores to run the Mountaineers ahead by five by the 16:58 mark. The Mountaineers went cold over the next few minutes, which allowed the Herd to tie the game at 11 apiece out of the first media timeout.
Huntley’s second three on as many attempts swished home to put App State back ahead by the 13:40 mark. The Herd brought the score within one point and eventually took their first lead of the contest at 17-16 thanks to a Dezayne Mingo basket. Answering fast, a trio of free throws by Beaubrun and Huntley quickly put the Mountaineers back ahead by two with nine minutes to play in the half.
The third 3-pointer of the opening half by Huntley sent App State ahead by five points yet again. Less than 12 minutes into the contest, the senior had 14 points with three made 3-pointers. Unfazed by Huntley’s onslaught, Marshall again tied the score at 23 as Mingo and Obinna Anochiili-Killen both recorded scores before the under-eight break.
It took a bit of game time to break the tie as neither team scored for nearly two minutes, but Tate wiggled his way into the paint to give the Mountaineers a two-point lead just before the under-four break. The Herd tied the score again a possession later, but the fourth 3-pointer on four attempts from Huntley fell and App State led by three as time wound down in the opening half.
As was the case in this hard-fought first half, Marshall scored again to bring the game within one, but Tate and Luke Wilson combined to score three points in a row to put the Mountaineers back up four points. The Herd eventually tied the score at 31, the fifth tie of the first half, but a free throw by Beaubrun sent the Mountaineers to the locker room with a one-point lead.
Although Marshall shot 52 percent from the field in the game’s first half, Huntley’s huge first half helped the Mountaineers to the lead as he scored 17 of his 27 points in the first 20 minutes. Additionally, Tate and Beaubrun were big players in the first half in Boone as the two combined for 11 more.
The Herd came out of the halftime break on fire and took the lead quickly. Marshall made all three of its first 3-point attempts to open the half and went on top by eight at the under-16 timeout. Mikal Dawson, Jalen Speer and Mingo played a huge role in the run as each hit a three during the stretch.
Speer quickly put Marshall ahead by 10 points, its largest lead of the game, by the 14:18 mark of the second half. App State’s offense went cold as it came out of the break by missing five of its first seven shots and turning the ball over three times. Huntley’s two-handed dunk ended the run, but the Thundering Herd and Nate Martin went back ahead by 10 by the under-12 media timeout.
Trailing by 10 with 12 minutes to go, the Mountaineers searched for an answer and found it to cut the score within one. Tate started things off with a layup to make it a six-point game and Huntley’s 25th points of the game quickly made it a four-point game. Marshall tallied six straight points to go back ahead by 10 with 10 minutes to play, but the Mountaineers had a run up their sleeves to make it tight down the stretch.
App State’s 9-0 run to make it a one-point game with 6:58 to play jumpstarted with a Huntley alley-oop dunk off a fast-break feed from Threadgill. After a pair of Beaubrun free throws and a defensive stop, Beaubrun scored in the paint to make it 54-50. The Herd missed another shot, and the Mountaineers ran out to the other end where Dior Conners hit his first 3-pointer of the game, igniting the Mountaineer faithful in Boone and forcing a Marshall timeout. In just three minutes of game time, the Mountaineers had made it a close game by making four of five shots.
After the timeout, Marshall found its offensive footing and ended the run, but Beaubrun scored his 13th point of the game, cutting it back to a one-point game. A fast-break layup by Speer made it a three-point game with 4:07 to play. App State’s strong spurt was short-lived, however, as Marshall went back ahead by six points thanks to Mingo’s 21st point falling through the hoop.
Conners answered Mingo’s basket with a layup on a runout, but Speer had the answer and sent Marshall back ahead by six. Needing to foul five times before the Herd was in the bonus, App State slowed the game down, but Marshall calmly sunk six of its final seven free throws to close out a 10-point win at the Holmes Center.
Top Performers
In his 150th game in a Mountaineer uniform, CJ Huntley matched his career high against Marshall with 27 points on 11-18 shooting. It was Huntley’s second straight 25-point game. Jalil Beaubrun recorded his 16th double-digit point game of the season with 13 points. He also pulled in nine rebounds, falling one short of a double-double. Myles Tate was the Mountaineers’ third double-digit scorer against the Herd as he poured in 10 points and dished out four assists.
Up Next
The Mountaineers will close the regular season on the road next week, playing their final two games away from home. App State will start its trip at Georgia Southern on Tuesday in what will be the team’s first trip to the newly constructed Jack and Ruth Ann Hill Convocation Center. Tipoff from Statesboro is slated for 7 p.m. and the game can be streamed on ESPN+.
The 2024-25 men’s basketball season is presented by Foscoe Companies.
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App State Athletics Strategic Communications
425 Jack Branch Drive
Boone, NC, 28608
www.appstatesports.com
