MOBILE, Ala. -- Appalachian State men's basketball fell in its Sun Belt opener at South Alabama on Thursday evening by a 79-73 score.

App State (5-9, 0-1 SBC) came out of the gate strong and opened an early 11-4 edge. After the Jaguars (8-6, 1-0 SBC) cut the Mountaineer lead to 14-9, the Black and Gold countered with an 11-2 run to build a 25-11 advantage with 9:43 left in the first half. From there, South Alabama closed the half on a 25-6 run to take a 36-31 edge into the intermission.

In the second half, South Alabama pushed its lead to 11 points at 49-38, only to see the Black and Gold trim its deficit to 51-47 with just over 10 minutes to play. The Jaguars responded and built their lead back up to 14 points at 72-58 with 2:33 to play. App State stormed back and cut its deficit to 77-73 on a three-pointer from O'Showen Williams with 27 seconds remaining in the game. The Mountaineers got no closer and South Alabama converted on two free throws down the stretch to close out the victory.

Ronshad Shabazz tallied a team-high 21 points (17 in the second half), to go along with three rebounds and a season-high tying five assists. He also moved into third place on the all-time scoring list, passing Dave Abernathy (1,744).

Isaac Johnson finished with 14 points on 5-of-6 (83.3 percent) shooting and a team-high six rebounds. Justin Forrest chipped in with 10 points and three assists, while Hunter Seacat tallied eight points, three rebounds, two blocks and a career-high tying two steals.

Off the bench, Williams had 11 points, including a 3-of-5 (60.0 percent) mark from deep.

Trhae Mitchell (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Josh Ajayi (15 points, 12 rebounds) both posted double-doubles for South Alabama.

App State shot 49.1 percent (27-of-55) from the field, while the Jaguars shot 51.9 percent (28-of-54).

The Mountaineers will have a quick turnaround and will travel to take on Troy on Saturday at 3 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+. App State will then return to Boone and host UT Arlington on Jan. 10 at 7 p.m. and Texas State on Jan. 12 at 2 p.m.

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