App State denies Georgia State trip to NCAAs

It wasn’t surprising that Appalachian State (17-11) provided the toughest challenge. The Mountaineers swept a two-game series in Boone, N.C., in late January before Georgia State dealt with most of the COVID issues that caused it to cancel or postpone nine games. Those two losses – Lanier said the Panthers “got spanked” – were mollified when Georgia State won their lone meeting in Atlanta, but there was no doubt that App State was the biggest impediment to another trip to the NCAA.

“I thought they checked the most boxes and they proved that during this tournament,” Lanier said. “I thought App State was one of the better teams in our league. They were playing their best basketball like we’ve been playing our best basketball.”

App State neutralized Georgia State’s inside game. Eliel Nsoseme took only four shots, scored seven, and had 10 rebounds. Jalen Thomas took only five shots, made just one, and was held to three points and three rebounds. The Panthers scored just 22 points in the paint.

With the inside game shut off, the Panthers had to rely on the perimeter and it wasn’t working. Kane Williams scored 18 points, but was just 4-for-14 from the floor. Corey Allen scored only nine points and was 3-for-12 and 1-for-3 on 3-pointers before fouling out. Evan Johnson came off the bench to score 14 and Justin Thomas and Ryan Boyce each added 11.

“It was them applying their defensive principles and being tough, doing a better job guarding our concepts than we did executing them,” Lanier said. “They just did a good job guarding our ball screen action. They were physical with us. They were tougher. Mentally we weren’t tough enough.”

Georgia State tried to produce a dramatic finish. Trailing by 14 points after Michael Almonacy drilled 3-pointer with 4:43 left, the Panthers cut the lead to four points on Williams’ jumper with 1:05 remaining. But Appalachian State negated the challenge with its success at the line, making 9 of 10 free throws in the final minute.

“It got down to a four-point game, really late, and often times you look at that and say, ‘Why didn’t we do that earlier?’” Lanier said. “I was proud to see them still fighting, but we needed to up the urgency level sooner.”

Appalachian State was led by Almonacy, a graduate transfer who scored a career-high 32 points – 20 more than his season average. It wasn’t the first time Almonacy has torched the Panthers; he set his previous career best of 24 against Georgia State in their most recent meeting.

“He’s a good player, made some tough shots,” Lanier said. “He’s a veteran guy who can really shoot it.”

Adrian Delph score 22 and Decatur native Justin Forrest scored 15. Forrest, son of Georgia Tech All-America James Forrest, took a hard spill with 1:16 left and needed assistance to get up and walk off the court. Forrest appeared to hit his head on the floor during a scramble for the ball.

Georgia State’s season is over, barring an invitation to a lesser postseason tournament. Lanier said the matter had not been discussed, but would be considered by the department if necessary.