Monday, January 27th
January 24, 2025WBB: Mountaineers Ground Eagles in 60-56 Victory
January 27, 2025MBB: Mountaineers Gut Out Win in Monroe to Finish Road Trip 3-1
Jan. 25, 2025
Contact: Jacob Plecker (pl*******@ap******.edu)
Box Score: Attached
MONROE, La. – In a low-scoring, defensive struggle in Monroe, the App State Men’s Basketball team (12-8, 6-3 SBC) scored 12 of the final 18 points in the game to pull away from the ULM Warhawks (4-17, 0-8 SBC) and post a 66-58 victory. App State battled through nine second-half turnovers and just eight made second-half field goals to finish its season-long road trip at 3-1.
Coming off a game in which they shot 2-27 from behind the line, the team’s worst 3-point percentage in a game since 2014, the Mountaineers drilled nine threes against the Warhawks on Saturday at a 40 percent clip. This included a trio of big shots from Myles Tate, Jackson Threadgill and Dior Conners down the stretch, each helping secure the road victory.
Although they started the second half sluggish from the field, missing all but one of its first five shots and turning the ball over six times in the first eight minutes of play, strong free-throw shooting helped keep the Mountaineers on track as they drilled 17 free throws in the game. Nine of App State’s first 11 points in the final frame came at the charity stripe and the team hit 14 free throws in the second half alone.
Defensively, App State was stifling yet again as they held the Warhawks to just three made 3-pointers on 19 attempts and a 32 percent field-goal percentage. The Mountaineers haven’t let an opponent shoot over 40 percent against it since Jan. 2 against Troy. Additionally, the Mountaineers moved to 8-0 this season when allowing fewer than 60 points.
How it Happened
Capping off the team’s season-long four-game road trip, Tate started the game’s scoring at the charity stripe, hitting on one of two free throws to open the game. One possession later, CJ Huntley buried a three from the top of the key to propel the Mountaineers to an early 4-0 lead just 62 seconds into the ballgame.
ULM and Jerry Ngopot tallied a basket to put the Warhawks on the board, but his basket was quickly answered by another Huntley basket to give him five quick points. Despite the energy from Huntley, the Warhawks tied the game at six apiece shortly after and then took a four-point lead by the first media break.
The Warhawk lead grew to six as Renars Sondors pushed in a shot in the lane, capping off a 10-0 ULM run that saw the Mountaineers miss four straight shots. A three in the corner from Conners ended the run, his first three of the game, to pull App State back within three, but a Jacob Wilson trey helped ULM answer back to push it ahead six at the 11:20 mark.
App State countered the run with a pair of Tate baskets to trim its deficit to three, but the Warhawks continued to thrive offensively to open the game and took a six-point advantage into the under-eight timeout. ULM outscored the Mountaineers 20-10 from the 16:10 mark to the 7:31 mark of the first half.
After a pair of Jalen Bolden free throws to give ULM an eight-point lead, its largest of the game, the Mountaineers went to work at cutting the deficit back down. A slick move from Luke Wilson on the low block helped kick off a 10-0 App State run to propel it ahead 26-24 by the 4:25 mark. Jalil Beaubrun kept the momentum going at the free-throw line then Tate hit on another 3-pointer after a hustle play by Michael Marcus Jr. on the offensive glass to bring the Mountaineers back within one.
Giving the Mountaineers their first lead since it was 6-4, Jamil Muttilib nailed his first 3-pointer of the game to put App State up as time dwindled in the opening half. The Warhawks ended App State’s 10-0 run with a basket, but another hustle play on the offensive glass by Muttilib resulted in a basket to put App State on top at the last media timeout.
Baskets apiece from Huntley and Beaubrun helped the Mountaineers to their largest lead of the first half at four with 35 seconds to play. Fouling to keep ULM from finding a late basket couldn’t quite stop it as Tyreese Watson hit a floater in the lane to make the score 32-30 in favor of App State as play hit halftime.
It wasn’t a pretty start to the game for either side as the two teams combined for just 25 makes on 65 attempts. App State shot just 37 percent in the first frame but made five of its 13 3-point attempts to give them the advantage.
Alonzo Dodd kicked off the second half in a pretty way as he went coast-to-coast off a Warhawk miss to score his first points of the half. ULM quickly tied the game at 34 with 17:19 to play, but Beaubrun’s aggressiveness down low resulted in a pair of free throws for the big man to put the Mountaineers back ahead two by the under-16 media timeout.
App State struggled to find its rhythm on offense after the timeout, but strong free-throw shooting kept them afoot and fended off a strong ULM spurt. Beaubrun hit on two more freebies before Huntley made one to make it a four-point game. One possession later, Huntley rebounded a Warhawk miss down low and tossed a beautiful outlet pass to Threadgill who got fouled and converted two shots at the line. On his 23rd birthday, Threadgill accounted for five points off the bench.
Now feeding off their solid defense that forced six Mountaineer turnovers in the first eight minutes of the second half, the Warhawks scored nine straight points to take a 44-41 lead by the under-12 timeout. App State answered the ULM run with a big-time 3-pointer from Tate off an offensive rebound by Marcus to tie the game back up at 44 with 10 minutes to go in the half.
The two teams traded free throws as play crept under eight minutes to go, giving the Warhawks a one-point edge on their home floor. Threadgill hit on a big three from the right wing to put App State ahead by two, before Dodd’s ball handling at the top of the key resulted in two free throws, swelling the slim App State advantage to four with six minutes to go.
Needing a basket, ULM trimmed its deficit back down to just two off a tip-in layup by Makai Willis. On the other end, the Warhawks blocked the first Mountaineer shot attempt from Beaubrun, but a loose ball found Dodd who dished to Conners for a 3-pointer, putting App State up five at the under-four break. Dodd posted a strong game on the glass, falling one point and one rebound shy of his first career double-double.
Seeing their lead fall to four, App State turned to Conners yet again who connected on his third three of the game to soar it ahead by seven points, its largest lead to that point. Hustle on the offensive glass by Beaubrun jumped the Mountaineers ahead by nine and all but secured the Mountaineers’ sixth victory in its last seven tries.
ULM hit a three to give it its final tally of 58 points, but Tate was fouled and sank two free throws to cap off a 3-1 road trip. With the win, head coach Dustin Kerns passed Buzz Peterson for the third-most conference wins in program history with 61 and extended his unbeaten streak to five games against ULM.
Top Performers
Although he picked up his fourth foul at the 8:01 mark in the second half, Myles Tate didn’t let that deter him as he tallied a game-best 16 points, which is his 11th consecutive double-digit scoring game. CJ Huntley dominated on the glass with 12 rebounds and added 10 points to record his fourth double-double in his last six games. Alonzo Dodd came just one point and one rebound shy of recording his first career double-double, but his energy in the minutes that Tate missed due to foul trouble helped the Mountaineers maintain their advantage and get the win.
Up Next
The Mountaineers are set to return to the Holmes Center for the first time since Jan. 11 on Wednesday, welcoming the Old Dominion Monarchs to Boone for a rematch from 13 days ago. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. and 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
