Box Score
DAVIDSON, N.C. –– With the game knotted up at 66-66 with 7:53 to play in the game, Appalachian State University men's basketball could not overcome a Davidson 20-8 run to end the game in what served as the 2016-17 regular season opener for both programs.
Griffin Kinney led the Mountaineers (0-1) with 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Three other Mountaineers finished in double-figures with Ronshad Shabazz and Jake Babic netting a team-high 11 points and Tyrell Johnson finished with 10.
In their first action as Mountaineers, Kelvin Robinson, Patrick Good, Isaac Johnson and Jake Wilson did not disappoint.
Robinson finished with nine points, while Good finished with seven and Wilson recorded six points and four rebounds. Johnson battled on the glass and came down with three rebounds.
Appalachian provided lots of energy from the opening tip and forced the Wildcats (1-0) back on their heels for much of the first half. The Black and Gold raced out to a 10-4 lead with five points from Shabazz.
The Wildcats would close to just two points, but Appalachian pushed its lead back up to seven with a 5-0 run that included a Babic jumper and free throws from Good and Kinney.
The Apps were able to fend off the Wildcats until the 4:13 mark of the first half when a layup from Nathan Ekwu tied the game at 30-30. With one more tied score in the half, the Mountaineers ended the opening period on a 5-1 run to lead 37-33 at halftime.
The Wildcats' Peyton Aldridge was held to 13 points in the first half, but would break out for 18 in a strong second half showing. Aldridge would finished with a game-high 31 points and haul in seven rebounds.
The second half was more of a heavyweight title fight between the former Southern Conference rivals with 15 lead changes after just one in the first.
With both teams trading blows and seemingly having an answer for each possession, the Mountaineers trailed the Wildcats 66-63 after Rusty Reigel poured in three of his 13 points.
The very next possession, Robinson, a true freshman, hit a cold-blooded answer from the left wing to knot the score at 66-66 with 7:53 to go.
Both teams would trade leads two more times before Davidson finally took the lead for good on a three-pointer from Jon Axel Gudmundsson to put the Wildcats ahead 70-68.
Down the stretch, the Mountaineers would manage just 2-for-6 from the charity stripe down by four points.
Overall, the Mountaineers led in second-chance points 16-8 and points off the bench 26-21. The Mountaineers outrebounded the Wildcats 39-38 with a slim advantage on the offensive glass 13-12.
Appalachian State will return to action on Tuesday, Nov. 15 and will square off with Tennessee in Knoxville at 7 p.m. on the SEC Network.
Notes: After finishing 3-for-14 last season from three, Tyrell Johnson knocked down his first triple of the night and finished 1-for-2 … Griffin Kinney just missed tying his career-high in rebounds (10), finishing with eight … Craig Hinton, Jake Wilson, Patrick Good and Kelvin Robinson all scored their first career points for the Black and Gold … Emarius Logan finished with eight points, including a perfect 6-for-6 from the foul line.
