By David Rogers. PENSACOLA, Fla. — Two-thirds of the way through the first half of basketball on March 9, it looked like the Sun Belt Conference quarterfinal matchup between App State and Georgia Southern might be a blowout win for the Mountaineers. Somebody forgot to tell the Eagles they were supposed to roll over and play dead.
App State did win, 85-80, but it took an overtime period after Georgia Southern chipped away at a 14-point early deficit to take the lead with 6:14 left in the game. Thanks to a pair of made free throws by the Mountaineers’ Terence Harcum with 16 seconds remaining, the No. 1 seeded favorite sons of the High Country pushed the game into overtime, where they made good on their opportunity.
While the Mountaineers’ offensive attack was broad with four players in double figures, scoring, the Eagles’ point of attack was through guard Tyren Moore, who kept Georgia Southern close with a game-high 36 points. Also in double figures for the Eagles were Avantae Parker (14 points) and Malik Tidwell coming off the bench and contributing 11. Although he was the big scorer on the day for GSU, Moore also dished out a game-high five assists.
For App State, senior forward Donovan Gregory recorded a team-high 22 points while sophomore power forward Justin Abson contributed 13 points to go along with four assists and seven blocked shots. Terence Harcum also added 13 points and Tre’Von Spillers poured in 12.
In the team’s press conference after the game, head coach Dustin Kerns reminded reporters that Abson is the Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year for a reason.
“He may have blocked seven,” said Kerns, “but he probably altered another 14.”
On this day, these longtime rivals and adversaries dating back to when both competed in the Southern Conference arrived to the end in different ways. App State dominated inside, as reflected by Abson’s seven blocked shots and thrill-a-minute crowd-pleasers in 10 dunks (vs. none by the Eagles).
Conversely, Georgia Southern, led by Moore, were successful on 9-of-25 three-point attempts (five made by Moore) vs. only two made from the seeming middle of Pensacola Bay by the Mountaineers. The Eagles also scored 18 points off of a whopping 17 Mountaineer turnovers, largely explaining the second half comeback by Georgia Southern.
Where GSU really failed was in their inability to capitalize efficiently on second chance points. They only managed nine points off of their 17 rebounds on the offensive end after teammates’ errant shots.
With App State’s tendency to attack the rim inside the paint, they also attracted 21 fouls by Georgia Southern players. The Mountaineers took advantage, converting on 23-of-27 shot attempts from the charity stripe.
The Eagles took 24 more shots at the basket than the Mountaineers. They just didn’t find their mark and App State’s big men collected 36 defensive rebounds.
Having survived the threat from the tournament’s No. 9 seed, App State will face No. 4 seed Arkansas State, which defeated No. 5 Louisiana, 89-62. Tipoff for the semifinal matchup on March 10 is 6:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (clock changes ahead by an hour tonight), 5:00 Central Daylight Time.
CLICK FOR BOX SCORE: 2421600
