WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The App State men's basketball team's remarkable 2023-24 season came to an end in an 87-76 road loss to top-seeded Wake Forest in the first round of the 2024 National Invitation Tournament.

The Mountaineers placed five scorers in double figures, led by senior forward C.J. Huntley's team-high 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting off the bench. Junior guard Terence Harcum added 14 points and three assists, while junior forward Tre'Von Spillers registered his 12th double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Graduate forward Donovan Gregory and junior guard Myles Tate chipped in 10 points apiece, while Tate led all players with five assists.

App State (27-7) fell behind by as many as 13 points just over midway through the first half, but trimmed the margin to nine, 36-27, by halftime. Just over five minutes into the second half, the Mountaineers cut their deficit to two and pulled within one, 49-48, on a Huntley 3-pointer with 13:15 left in the game. However, Wake Forest (23-13) kicked its offense into another gear from that point with a 20-5 scoring run over the next eight minutes to build a 16-point advantage, as the Mountaineers could only draw as close as nine points for the remainder of the contest.

App State finished the night shooting 31-for-67 (.463) overall, 7-for-27 (.259) beyond the 3-point arc and 7-for-8 (.875) at the free throw line. The Mountaineers also outscored the Demon Deacons, 36-0, off the bench and 44-34 in the paint, but surrendered a 15-7 scoring margin on second chances and allowed Wake Forest to shoot 25-for-31 (.806) at the free throw line.

Wake Forest was led by Kevin Miller's 31 points on 9-for-14 shooting whille connecting on all 10 of his free throw attempts, as Efton Reid tallied a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds.