Championship Central | Box Score
PENSACOLA, Fla. - App State completed a fairytale run through the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Championship, presented by First Bank & Trust, Monday night with an 80-73 victory over defending champion Georgia State at the Pensacola Bay Center to earn its first conference championship since 2000.
The Mountaineers - who were making their first appearance in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship game since joining the league in 2014-15 - won four games in as many days (including two overtime contests) to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament. It will be App State's first trip to the NCAAs since beating College of Charleston, 68-56, to win the Southern Conference title back in 2000.
"There's no words to describe this," said App State head coach Dustin Kerns. "I'm so proud of our team. I thought we deserved to win the tournament. We beat the preseason favorite, the regular-season champions and beat the hottest team in the conference tonight. I'm so proud of our kids and our university as a whole. It's a great school with a great fanbase."
The Mountaineers (17-11) - who started the tournament as the No. 4 seed from the East Division - were led by the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, Michael Almonacy. Almonacy finished the game with a career-high 32 points (the second highest single-game total in the tournament) on 10-of-18 shooting, including 6-for-10 from 3-point range. The 10 field goals and six 3-pointers are tournament highs for an individual player. He added seven rebounds, two assists and two steals in playing all 40 minutes of the Mountaineers' win. Almonacy posted career highs in nine stats categories through the tournament, finishing the four games with 87 points, 20 3-pointers made and 15 assists.
"I just like to play my game and for us to win," said Almonacy of his performance. "I want us to win, whether I score zero points or 30 points. We just wanted to win tonight and we kept fighting our way throughout this whole tournament."
Georgia State (16-6) - the top seed from the East - had an eight-game winning streak snapped with the loss and the Panthers were going after their third straight conference championship, having won titles in 2018 and 2019, and its fourth title in the last six completed tournaments.
"When you get to the championship game and have a shot to go to the NCAA Tournament and don't win, it's disappointing," said Georgia State head coach Rob Lanier. "I'm disappointed for our players. We were 3-4 in the conference at one point, but our players did a great job of enduring and we fought our way to get a No. 1 seed."
The first half of the game was a back-and-forth affair, with each team making runs to take the lead. App State made a 9-0 run to lead 11-5 as the Panthers went 3:20 without scoring, but then Georgia State made a 9-0 run of its own to go up 19-14 just past the midway point of the half. The Mountaineers and Panthers then battled on even terms for the rest of the first half before Georgia State took a 37-35 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Georgia State made 14 of its 29 shots overall (48.3 percent), including 6-of-11 (54.5 percent) from 3-point range, in the opening 20 minutes. Ryan Boyce was 4-for-4 from the field (2-for-2 from long range) to lead the Panthers with 11 points. Evan Johnson had seven and Kane Williams chipped in six points, three rebounds and two assists as Georgia State had five players with five points or more in the half.
App State - which won two of the three regular-season meetings between the two teams - was 13-for-31 overall (41.9 percent) and 5-of-14 (35.7 percent) on its three-point shots, but the Mountaineers were only 4-of-8 (50 percent) from the free-throw line. Almonacy paced the Mountaineers with 16 points and four rebounds on 5-of-9 shooting (3-of-6 from 3-point range) and Adrian Delph had 13 points and four rebounds.
The Mountaineers took advantage of cold shooting by Georgia State to open up a 46-41 lead just over seven minutes into the second half and App State stretched its lead to as much as 14 points, coming at 67-53 after a 3-pointer by Almonacy with 4:43 to go. However, that was the last field goal the Mountaineers would make, enabling Georgia State to make a furious attempt to get back into the game.
"App State did a good job of guarding us and were more physical than us in the second half," said Lanier of his team's 10-of-33 (30.3 percent) shooting in the second half. "Mentally, we weren't tough enough and we didn't maintain our poise. We kept trying to hit some home runs and App State stuck together and stayed the course."
The Panthers got as close as 71-67 with 1:05 to go after a basket by Williams, but Almonacy knocked down a pair of free throws and App State forced a turnover on Georgia State's next possession. Four free throws by Donovan Gregory sandwiched around a missed shot by the Panthers made it 77-67 App State with 39 seconds remaining. Williams made a trey with 21 seconds left to get Georgia State to within 79-73, but Delph made a free throw on the Mountaineers' subsequent possession and App State held on from there to win its first-ever Sun Belt title.
"Our defense, especially in the second half, was unbelievable," said Kerns. "We had a good game plan on both ends of the floor and executed, but our defense especially was outstanding. We didn't let them have any easy shots."
Delph had 22 points and six rebounds and Justin Forrest was named to the All-Tournament Team after scoring 15 points, along with three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Gregory had four points, but had 10 rebounds, three steals, two blocked shots and two assists and R.J. Duhart had just three points, but grabbed six rebounds and added three steals and two assists for the Mountaineers.
"We have a very connected locker room," said Kerns. "We have a lot of love for one another. I'm not sure if we have the most talent, but we have one great team. We've got a lot of good players and good coaches."
Williams led Georgia State with 18 points and eight rebounds. Johnson had 14 points, Justin Roberts had 11 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals and Ryan Boyce had 11 as well for the Panthers. Eliel Nsoseme was named to the All-Tournament Team for the Panthers after scoring seven points, pulling down 10 rebounds and adding two assists and a blocked shot.
The 2021 Sun Belt Men's and Women's Basketball Championship featured a 12-team field for its first year in a five-year partnership with
Pensacola Sports, in collaboration with the
Pensacola Bay Center,
Pensacola State College and
Visit Pensacola. It was the first Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament to be hosted in the Sunshine State. The 1988 women's tournament was played at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida.
2021 Sun Belt All-Tournament Team
Justin Forrest, APP STATE
Norchad Omier, ARKANSAS STATE
Mylik Wilson, LOUISIANA
Michael Flowers, SOUTH ALABAMA
Eliel Nsoseme, GEORGIA STATE
2021 SUN BELT CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT MOST OUTSTANDING PLAYER
Michael Almonacy, APP STATE