App State reaches semifinals of Sun Belt Tournament after surviving overtime scare

It wasn’t easy, but the Appalachian State men’s basketball team is moving on to the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Championship Tournament.

The top-seeded Mountaineers squandered a double-digit advantage they’d built in the first half of their 85-80 overtime win and traded leads with Georgia Southern late. But after clutch free throws and a block of the Eagles’ leading scorer, who finished with 36 points, App State forced overtime and didn’t look back.

Despite Tyren Moore’s — Georgia Southern’s star senior named to the All-Sun Belt Second Team — career-best performance, the Mountaineers took control early in the extra period and held off the Eagles in Saturday’s quarterfinal meeting in Pensacola, Florida, at the Pensacola Bay Center.

The Mountaineers (27-5, 17-2 Sun Belt) advance to the semifinals at 6 p.m. Sunday against Arkansas State or Louisiana.

App State, which led 41-31 at halftime, has already set its program record for wins and clinched its first outright regular-season conference title since the 1978-79 season.

Donovan Gregory, the former Carmel Christian star, became the 12th player in program history to eclipse 1,500 career points. He led the Mountaineers with 22 points, including a perfect 10-of-10 mark from the free-throw line.

Sophomore Justin Abson finished with 13 points, 12 rebounds and seven blocks — and slammed a dunk early in the second half. Junior guard Terence Marcum posted 13 points, and junior forward Tre’Von Spillers had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

The Mountaineers’ offense started the game on an 11-2 run and was in control throughout the first half, when they led by as many as 14. During one of their bursts, junior guard Xavion Brown came up with a steal, and the ball got back into Brown’s hands for a dunk after a series of quick passes.

Georgia Southern, the ninth-seeded team that took down eighth-seeded South Alabama on Thursday, kept the game within two scores after the break. The Eagles took their first lead — during a 9-0 run that included four App State turnovers — with six minutes left in the second half.

The teams went back and forth late, and a Moore layup on a fast break gave Georgia Southern a 69-68 lead. Gregory made a jumper that tied the game at 74 with 53 seconds left, but Moore answered it on the other end.

Moore fouled Terence Harcum on the next App State position, and the junior guard nailed the free throws to knot the game at 76. Moore missed a shot at the buzzer, and the game headed to overtime.

The Mountaineers held Georgia Southern to just two baskets during that overtime, knocked down their free throws and built their own two-score lead.

They haven’t been the No. 1 seed in a conference tournament in 45 years. Just like that 1978-79 Southern Conference championship team, this year’s App State squad will play in its conference semifinals.