Appalachian State falls in Sun Belt semifinals on last-second basket

Arkansas State beat Appalachian State at its own game Sunday evening.

Guard Freddy Hicks sank an off-balance line-drive shot as the buzzer sounded, lifting the fourth-seeded Red Wolves to a 67-54 Sun Belt Tournament semifinal victory over the Mountaineers.

The loss probably cost the Mountaineers their chance at an NCAA Tournament berth. Most analysts had said Appalachian State would not have the credentials to land an at-large berth in the NCAA event.

Appalachian State had gone 12-2 in games decided by 10 points or fewer this season, including an overtime victory in the tournament quarterfinals Saturday at Pensacola (Fla.) Bay Center.

The flair for the dramatic paid off in a Sun Belt regular-season championship and a 27-5 record.

But on Sunday night, the Red Wolves (18-15) flipped the script. Just nine days after losing 80-57 to the Mountaineers in Boone, Arkansas State was a different team this time.

Appalachian State trailed 15-12 a little more than eight minutes into the game, but the Red Wolves went on a 7-2 run and opened a 22-14 lead. The Mountaineers closed the gap but trailed 38-29 at halftime.

Arkansas State opened the gap even more in the second half and was up 47-36 with 15:20 left in the game.

The Mountaineers slowly battled back and finally took the lead, 62-61, on a dunk by Justin Abson with 4:38 to go.

Myles Tate’s 3-pointer with 2:33 remaining put Appalachian State ahead 65-63, but the Mountaineers didn’t score again. Caleb Fields’ layup tied the game at 65-all with 2:16 to play, and then each team missed several scoring opportunities down the stretch.

Appalachian State had a good opportunity in the final 30 seconds, but Carmel Christian product Donovan Gregory, the hero of the Mountaineers’ quarterfinal victory, missed a short jump shot. Appalachian State got the offensive rebound, but Tate missed a jumper with 22 seconds left.

Arkansas State got the rebound, called a time out, and set up a final play.

Hicks got the ball with about 10 seconds left but found himself closely guarded. With the seconds ticking away, he slid under a defender and launched the off-balance shot that went through the net as the buzzer sounded.

The loss ended a remarkable season for the Mountaineers, who last got to the NCAA Tournament in 2021. Along the way, they beat Auburn at home and swept two games from James Madison, which was nationally ranked early in the season.

They went to Pensacola as the No. 1 seed in a conference tournament for the third time in school history, and the first time since the 1978-79 season. They entered Sunday’s game a school-record 22 games above .500 and were on an eight-game winning streak.

If the Mountaineers don’t land an NCAA berth, they would be in contention for a spot in the NIT field. The NIT no longer is required to take regular-season champions who don’t win their conference tournaments, but the Mountaineers’ record and their victories over Auburn and James Madison would seem to be strong selling points.

Gregory, the team’s leading scorer during the regular season, was held to nine points Sunday, about four below his average. Terence Harcum led the Mountaineers with 15.

Caleb Fields led the Red Wolves with 23 points, and Hicks added 19.

Arkansas State will play for the Sun Belt championship and the automatic NCAA berth Monday evening against second seed James Madison (30-3), which beat No. 11 seed Texas State 73-68 in Sunday’s late semifinal.