MONROE, La. – Appalachian State shot 59 percent (16-of-27) from the field in the second half to erase an 11-point deficit and claim a 79-73 road win at ULM Saturday (Jan. 6). The Mountaineers outscored ULM, 13-2, over the final 3:52.
 
The Warhawks jumped out to a 13-5 lead on a 3-pointer from Travis Munnings with 13:20 left in the first half. ULM matched its biggest lead of the first half at 21-13 on a 3-pointer from Marvin Jean-Pierre. App State answered with a 16-7 run and took its first lead at 29-28 on a 3-pointer from Isaac Johnson with 4:27 to play in the opening half. The Warhawks responded with a 7-0 spurt to build a 35-29 lead on Michael Ertel's 3-pointer with 2:05 remaining in the first half. The Mountaineers pulled to within three at the break, 37-34, on Craig Hinton's jumper with :02 left.
 
A layup by Sam Alabakis gave ULM its largest lead at 54-43 with 14:48 to play in the second half. App State (8-9, 3-1 Sun Belt) went on a 19-9 run and cut its deficit to 63-62 when Ronshad Shabazz made 1-of-2 free throws with 7:24 left. The Warhawks pushed its lead back to five at 71-66 on Jean-Pierre's layup with 4:04 remaining. Griffin Kinney's dunk ignited App State's decisive 13-2 spurt, and the Mountaineers took the lead for good at 72-71 on a pair of free throws from Isaac Johnson with 2:10 on the clock. App State made four of its last five field-goal attempts while ULM (7-8, 1-3) went 1-for-7 from the floor over the last 3:52.
 
"We didn't earn the victory because we didn't close," ULM head basketball coach Keith Richard. "It's a 40-minute game, not a 35-minute game. Give App State credit, they deserved it. That's how to steal a win on the road. App State stayed within striking distance, and they did a much better job closing the game with big plays.
 
"App State simply out-toughed us in the second half. They came up with two big offensive rebounds off missed free throws down the stretch.
 
"Offensively, we weren't very aggressive in the second half," Richard continued. "It's difficult to stop a run when you can't get to the free-throw line. We didn't do a good job the last three or four minutes. We need to watch the film and figure out what happened down the stretch. We've got to get better at finishing games."
 
Shabazz hit 8-of-13 shots from the field, including 4-of-6 3-pointers, and finished with a game-high 22 points. Three other Mountaineers scored in double figures, as Justin Forrest added 14 points, O'Showen Williams 12 and Hinton 11.
 
Four Warhawks reached double figures in scoring, led by Harris who netted a season-high 17 points, to go along with a career-high six rebounds and five assists. ULM also got 15 points from Ertel, 13 from Munnings and 11 from Jean-Pierre.
 
"Jordon Harris is playing with more confidence," Richard said. "We've encouraged him to be more aggressive, and he's growing offensively each game. That's encouraging to see because we need more than two guys carrying the scoring load. The ball is in Jordon's hands a lot, so we need him to be both a passer and scorer."  
 
The Warhawks outrebounded App State, 37-26.
 
ULM has a week off before resuming Sun Belt play Saturday, Jan. 13 at the Ragin' Cajuns, with tipoff set for 7 p.m.