Appalachian State used 10-0 runs in the first and second half to get past the Arkansas State men’s basketball team 63-51 Saturday at the Holmes Convocation Center.
App State wins its third-consecutive contest to move to 13-10 overall and 6-4 in Sun Belt Conference play while A-State drops its ninth consecutive game to move to 9-14 overall and 1-9 in SBC action.
Omar El-Sheikh collected his seventh double-double of the season pacing the Red Wolves with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Avery Felts added 11 points while Julian Lual chipped in with 10. Terence Harcum led three Mountaineers in double figures with 15 points.
App State grabbed a 14-4 advantage just five minutes into the contest with a 10-0 spurt and the Red Wolves trailed by 10 much of the remainder of the half. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Felts and Lual in the final three minutes of the first half helped A-State cut the deficit to four, 29-25, but the Mountaineers took at 31-25 lead to the break.
Markise Davis sank a layup trimming the deficit to four at the start of the second half, but App State reeled off the next 10 points to lead 41-27 with 16:17 to play. The Red Wolves were unable to get closer than an eight-point deficit the remainder of the contest.
App State shot 47 percent (22-47) from the field, knocking down 6-of-14 (43 percent) from 3-point range and outscored the Red Wolves 13-5 at the free throw line.
A-State finished the afternoon shooting 38 percent (20-53) from the floor and was 6-of-19 (32 percent) beyond the arc. App State held a 20-2 advantage in points off turnovers with the Red Wolves coughing up the ball 14 times to the Mountaineers eight.
A-State held a 32-29 edge on the boards boasted by an 8-3 advantage on the offensive glass.
A-State returns to First National Bank Arena to host South Alabama Thursday at 7:00 p.m. in a contest that airs on ESPN+ and across the EAB Red Wolves Sports Network and flagship station 107.9 KFIN in the Northeast Arkansas area.
