PENSACOLA, Fla. – Appalachian State lost an eight-point lead with 32 seconds to go in regulation, but the Mountaineers rebounded in overtime and showed their mental toughness by earning a 76-73 win over top-seeded Texas State Saturday night in a quarterfinal match up at the Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Championship at the Pensacola Bay Center.
"This game was two good teams going at it," said Appalachian State head coach Dustin Kerns. "You have to give Texas State credit for coming back the way they did, but I'm proud of how our guys regrouped in the overtime. This was just a great game."
The No. 4 seed from the East, Appalachian State (15-12) will now take on Coastal Carolina (16-6) in an all-East Division semifinal Sunday night at 8 p.m. at the Pensacola Bay Center. Second-seeded Coastal Carolina advanced by knocking off Troy, 86-68, in its quarterfinal match up Saturday night. The Chanticleers will bring a six-game winning streak into the game.
Appalachian State used a 16-2 run to go from being down 48-42 to leading 58-50 with 1:07 to go in regulation. The Mountaineers were still up eight, at 61-53 with 32 seconds to go following a free throw by Justin Forrest. However, Texas State - the top seed from the West Division and the conference regular-season champion - made four 3-pointers in the final 26 seconds of regulation, including a buzzer-beater by Caleb Asberry, to send the game into overtime tied at 65. Asberry, who had made just one trey before the final minute of regulation, made three of the Bobcats' four 3-pointers during their furious rally.
Asberry made another three to give Texas State a 68-65 lead early in the extra period, but the Mountaineers showed their mettle by coming back and retaking the lead for good at 71-70 following a 3-pointer by Forrest with 2:20 left. Appalachian State scored five straight points to make it 73-70 before Mason Harrell's jumper got the Bobcats back to within 73-72 with 1:36 remaining. However, Michael Almonacy responded with a three-pointer for the Mountaineers to push the advantage back out to 76-72 with 56 seconds to go and Appalachian State held on from there to snap Texas State's seven-game winning streak.
"(Before the start of overtime) I reminded our kids that we'd studied adversity and how to deal with it," said Kerns. "We knew we just had to go out and make the next play. Everyone lifted each other up. Texas State made some great shots and that's just basketball. When it really mattered most, the guys came through."
Both teams struggled offensively in the first half and battled on fairly even terms before Alonzo Sule made a layup with 3:34 to go before halftime to give the Bobcats a nine-point lead at 24-15. However, Appalachian State didn't let the Bobcats get away and a three-point play by Forrest with 35 seconds left allowed the Mountaineers to go into the locker room only down 26-20.
Harrell led Texas State (18-7) with seven points and three rebounds and Sule had six points and three rebounds for the Bobcats, who made 12 of its 31 shots overall (38.7 percent) and only two of its nine 3-point attempts (22.2 percent). However, the Bobcats out-rebounded Appalachian State, 22-15, and scored 18 of its 26 first-half points in the paint.
Almonacy was the high scorer for the Mountaineers with seven points, four rebounds and two assists, while Forrest chipped in six points and three rebounds. Appalachian State was a chilly 8-for-26 overall (30.8 percent) and 3-for-12 (25.0 percent) from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes.
Texas State led by as many as 11 in the second half before Appalachian State started chipping away at the Bobcats' advantage. The Mountaineers' big run started when they were down 48-42 after a Nighael Ceaser layup with 7:19 to go in regulation. Appalachian State scored nine straight points and 16 of the next 18 to set up the late-game fireworks.
"We have a tough team, but we just came up a little bit short," said Texas State interim head coach Terrence Johnson. "We did our job and competed. You have to give Appalachian State credit. They did what they needed to do to win the game."
Forrest led Appalachian State with 28 points and six rebounds as the Mountaineers placed three scorers in double figures. Almonacy had 23 points, six rebounds and three assists, Adrian Delph had 16 and eight rebounds. Donovan Gregory didn't reach double digits, but did a bit of everything for Appalachian State with five points, nine rebounds, five assists, three steals and a blocked shot.
Harrell paced Texas State with 20 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Asberry finished with a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, Isiah Small chipped in 15 points, six rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots and Ceaser had 10 points, three rebounds and two blocked shots. Shelby Adams also had an all-around game for the Bobcats with five points, five rebounds and four assists in the loss.