Box Score BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University men's basketball led by as many as 13 points and held the advantage for the first 35 minutes of the game but UT Arlington rallied to top the Mountaineers, 71-67, on Thursday evening at the Holmes Center.

Appalachian State (2-12, 0-3 Sun Belt) shot 54.8 percent (17-of-31) from the field in the first half but made only 27.6 percent (8-of-29) of its shots in the second half to squander a 44-35 halftime lead.

Sun Belt Conference-leading UTA (12-2, 3-0 Sun Belt) used a huge advantage in the paint and at the free-throw line to overcome the early deficit. The Mavericks outscored the Mountaineers 36-16 in the paint and made 21-of-36 free throws compared to just 7-of-16 shooting at the charity stripe for App State. Appalachian was whistled for 25 fouls while UTA was called for just 17.

Frank Eaves led all scorers with 21 points on 7-of-17 shooting from the field.

App State jumped out to an early advantage in the first half and raced off to a 10-3 lead in the opening 2:36 of the game. The Mountaineers got back-to-back threes in the midst of the run from Chris Burgess. For the game, Burgess finished with nine points.

Appalachian extended its lead to as many as 13 just a few minutes later and led the Mavs 20-7, capped by a three from Burgess with 14:37 remaning in the half. UTA answered with a 10-2 run of their own to cut the lead to 22-17 right before the under 12:00 media timeout.

The Apps would push their lead up to as many as 11 points toward the end of the half and would take an eight point advantage into the locker room.

UT Arlington would construct a 8-0 run immediately out of the half and cut the App State lead to 44-43 in just the opening 3:17 of the second half. App State would fight back and engineer its own 7-0 run to re-open an eight point lead at 51-43 with 14:26 left to play. The run was keyed by a Jake Babic three-pointer and was followed by buckets from Michael Obacha and two free throws from Eaves.

In a see-saw battle, the Mavericks put together the game's second-straight 7-0 run and closed to within one point at 51-50. The Mountaineers got back-to-back buckets from Emarius Logan off the bench to ignite a 5-0 run and create some breathing room with a 56-50 advantage.

App State would hold its lead until a Nathan Hawkins layup at the 5:02 mark of the second half gave UTA a 61-60 lead. A Ronshad Shabazz jumper tied the game at 62-62 with 4:25 remaining.

The Mavs were able to a get two free throws and a three-pointer  to open up their biggest lead of the game at 67-62 with just 39 seconds left. Babic answered with a three to cut the lead to two points. Drew Charles would be fouled and hit both shots from the charity stripe to put UTA back up by four at 69-65.

Kinney was able to score a layup and get a foul, but missed the free throw and two made foul shots from Kaelon Wilson iced the game for the Mavericks and UT Arlington would escape with a 71-67 win.

The Mountaineers tied a season-high with 16 assists on the night.

Appalachian State will return to the court on Saturday when they take on Texas State at 3:30 p.m. from the Holmes Center.