Trailing by five at halftime and 12 midway through the second half, Georgia Southern men's basketball went on a 9-0 run to take its first lead of the day, but went into a drought immediately after and fell 84-74 at App. State on Thursday.
The Eagles (4-16, 4-4 Sun Belt) hung tough with the Sun Belt-leading Mountaineers (16-4, 7-1), but couldn't get past the blocking ability of the home team in the loss.
App started the game on a 7-0 run and never trailed in the first, but the Eagles brought it to within five on a Cam Bryant layup, and then three after Eugene Brown III sunk a three-pointer.
The Mountaineers stretched the lead back to 12, however, Tyren Moore took over late in the half. The senior scored 11 points over the final four minutes, including a three with four seconds left to cut the deficit to five.
Moore had 20 of his 28 points in the opening frame.
The Mountaineers once again stretched their lead to eight, however, a Nate Brafford layup capped a 9-0 run by the Eagles to take a 60-59 lead, the first of the day.
The Eagles went on a long scoring drought following this and couldn't recover. App went on an 8-0 run in response and put the game out of reach, leading by 12 with three minutes left.
Georgia Southern couldn't cut into the deficit, falling 84-74 in Boone.
The Eagles made a season-low three three-pointers but shot 44.3 percent overall.
Moore continued his great stretch of games with 28 points, his fifth 20-point effort of the season, and is the first Eagle over the last five seasons to go a perfect 10-10 from the line.
Brown III (12) and Malik Tidwell (10) joined Moore in double figures.
GS has a quick turnaround and will look to bounce back in Norfolk against Old Dominion on Saturday.
