MBB: Mountaineers Fall to Trojans in First Home Game in 30 Days

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MBB: Mountaineers Fall to Trojans in First Home Game in 30 Days

Jan. 2, 2025

 

Contact: Jacob Plecker (pl*******@ap******.edu)

 

Online: https://appstatesports.com/news/2025/1/2/mens-basketball-mountaineers-fall-to-trojans-in-first-home-game-in-30-days.aspx

 

Box Score: Attached 

 

Postgame Press Conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32eP015xD0s

 

BOONE, N.C. –  In a back-and-forth contest that saw the lead change hands eight times, a late 12-4 run from the Troy Trojans (9-4, 2-0 SBC) helped them separate from App State (6-7, 0-2 SBC) and claim a 69-61 win in Boone on Thursday. The Mountaineers saw their offense go cold in the final minutes, while Troy found its footing to pull away.
 
It was an evenly matched contest throughout as both teams led for at least 15 minutes in the game. Both squads also went ahead by at least seven points during the contest while also going on at least a 10-0 scoring run. As has been the trend in recent years between App State and Troy, the score was decided by fewer than 10 points, marking the third time in the last four meetings that the game was decided by 10 points or fewer.
 
App State saw two players reach double figures against the Trojans in Myles Tate and Jalil Beaubrun. Tate tallied 20 points, his fifth game scoring at least 20 points this season, while Beaubrun added 12 points and seven rebounds. Despite the efforts from the starting five, the Mountaineer bench struggled to add help as they accounted for just four of App State’s 61 points.
 
Troy shot it well from behind the arc on Thursday, making a season-best 12 threes. The Trojans came into the game against the Mountaineers shooting 28.5 from three, but two crucial shots from the long line late propelled them ahead.
 
How it Happened
In what was App State’s first home game in 30 days, the Trojans and Marcus Rigsby Jr. started the scoring in the Holmes Center as the junior made the first of 12 Trojan threes. Answering the three, CJ Huntley sunk a pair of free throws before Tate’s first three of the game shot the Mountaineers ahead at the 17:57 mark of the opening half.
 
A turnover forced by the Mountaineer defense led to a Beaubrun layup on the other end, shooting App State ahead by four. App State forced two more turnovers on two straight possessions after Beaubrun’s layup and Alonzo Dodd capitalized on this with a three from the corner to put the Mountaineers up 10-3 by the first media break. Dodd’s three capped off a 10-0 Mountaineer run.
 
Using the timeout to gather themselves, Troy scored seven of the game’s next 10 points to pull back within two by the 12:40 mark. Tayton Conerway and Myles Rigsby helped spark the Trojan run as the Mountaineer offense sputtered for a bit.
 
App State’s lead fell to just one point after Rigsby Jr.’s floater fell, but Beaubrun and Tate quelled the Trojan run with a pair of baskets to put the Mountaineers back ahead by five. After a Trojan basket, a slick pick-and-pop play ran between Tate and Michael Marcus Jr. resulted in a three to put the Mountaineers back ahead by six with just under eight minutes to go.
 
Finding open looks from deep, the Trojans sunk two straight threes to tie the contest at 20 apiece by the under-eight timeout. Troy hit yet another three out of the timeout and then Conerway capped off a 12-0 run with 4:34 to play in the first to put Troy ahead by six, its largest lead to that point. Dior Conners quieted the fierce Trojan run with a three of his own, but the Trojans quickly went back ahead by seven thanks to baskets by Rigsby and Theo Seng.
 
The Mountaineers closed the first half with a bang as each of their final three possessions ended in ferocious dunks. First, it was Huntley who took a pocket pass from Dodd and slammed it home. Beaubrun followed Huntley’s jam with an even bigger one-handed dunk after faking his defender at the top of the key. A Rigsby jumper marked the end of Troy’s scoring in the half, but an alley-oop dunk by Huntley closed things out in the first half. When the buzzer sounded, Troy led by three.
 
Hot shooting from the Trojans was the story in the first half in Boone as they shot 48 percent from the field and 40 percent from three. App State couldn’t match that as it shot just 38 percent from the field to open the half. The Mountaineers did capitalize on seven Troy turnovers, however, scoring 12 points off Trojan mistakes in the first half.
 
Out of the halftime break, App State quickly reclaimed a slim lead thanks to a Conners three at the 17:01 mark. The Mountaineers drilled each of their first three shots to open the half. After a brief scoring drought between the two teams, Troy took a one-point lead into the under-16 timeout as Seng and Jerrell Bellamy tallied baskets.
 
App State jumped back ahead by one point after the brief break, but a three from Victor Valdes forced yet another lead change early in the half. Dodd’s left-handed layup tied the game with 11 minutes to go, but his shot was answered by Conerway’s three to put Troy back ahead.
 
After Troy went ahead by five out of the under-eight timeout, Tate and Conners combined to score the next five points to tie the game at 52 apiece with 7:03 to play. A pair of quick baskets from Troy shot them ahead by three, but Beaubrun’s dunk sent things to the final media timeout with the Mountaineers trailing by one.
 
Troy began to pull away late as Conerway hit another three and Rigsby Jr.’s basket gave the Trojans a six-point advantage with 90 seconds left in regulation. A three from Tate trimmed the Mountaineer deficit back to three, but the 12th Troy three of the game put them back ahead by six with 42 seconds to play.
 
A pair of Tate free throws kept the Mountaineers in the game late, but four straight free throws helped the Trojans secure an eight-point win.
 
Top Performers 
Continuing his recent torrid stretch, Tate tallied his second straight 20-point game and fifth of the year against the Trojans, tallying 20 points. He also pitched in five assists and four steals. Beaubrun recorded his first double-digit game at home as a Mountaineer, tallying 12 points and seven rebounds. Beaubrun also accounted for a pair of rim-rattling dunks in the game, bringing the Mountaineer crowd to their feet. Making his second consecutive start, Dodd recorded a well-rounded performance against the Trojans, scoring eight points, grabbing five boards, dishing out a season-high seven assists and tallying three steals.
 
Up Next
The Mountaineers will continue their four-game homestand on Saturday by welcoming the Texas State Bobcats to the Holmes Center. Tipoff is slated for 1 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+.
 
The 2024-25 men’s basketball season is presented by Foscoe Companies.
 

 

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