JONESBORO, Ark. (1/3/15) – The Arkansas State men's basketball team held a 55-41 lead with 10:18 remaining, but Appalachian State outscored the Red Wolves 33-18 to defeat A-State 74-73 at the Convocation Center on Saturday.

With the loss, A-State falls to 6-5 on the season and 1-1 in Sun Belt action. Appalachian State improved to 4-6 on the year and 1-0 in conference play.

Mountaineers guard Frank Eaves led all scorers with 22 points, but Milos Kostic was the thorn in the side of the Red Wolves. Kostic had scored two points on the year, but poured in 11 in the game, including three treys, all in the second half.

“We just gave that game away. I've been here a number of years and that's probably the most disappointing loss because we had the game won,” head coach John Brady said. “We couldn't stop them down the stretch and we couldn't rebound the ball. All we needed was one rebound and we couldn't get it. We got pushed around and we got out-hustled on 50-50 balls. We just couldn't get the stop and get the rebound we needed.”

Anthony Livingston posted his fourth-straight double-double and fifth on the year with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Sean Gardner added 17 points and Cameron Golden chipped in with 11. PJ Hardwick collected his first double-double dishing out 15 assists while scoring 10 points. Hardwick's 15 assists were two shy of the program record of 17 held by Chico Fletcher.

With A-State leading by 14, Appalachian State hit 12-of-20 (60 percent) of their shots to erase the Red Wolves lead. The Mountaineers grabbed eight offensive rebounds in the second half; all after the Red Wolves had stretched their lead to 14 points.

“Offensively, we were fine,” Brady added.  “We shot the ball well and had 17 assists to 10 turnovers. We did well there, but when it came time to winning the game, we didn't do it. We didn't get the rebound we needed to win the game. I'm disappointed in what we didn't do to get the game. With a 14 point lead with 10 minutes to go, if you get any stops you should win the game. You can't let them score seven consecutive times or whatever the case may be. If they missed it, they got the rebound.”

A-State finished with 10 turnovers in the game, but eight of those came in the second half to aide the Mountaineers to 10 points off of turnovers in the period. After the Red Wolves defense held Appalachian State to 34 percent (11-of-32), the Mountaineers found their touch by shooting 56 percent (18-of-32) in the second period. 

“You credit Appalachian State for making the plays,” Brady said. “They out-hustled us, they beat us on the offensive glass, they beat us on 50-50 balls and they out-rebounded us. Those are the plays of grit and toughness and they did it down the stretch and we didn't so we have the disappointing loss.”

A-State again struggled from the field early in the game, starting 0-for-7 in the first half. Despite the slow start, the Red Wolves never trailed by more than six. Appalachian State got off to a slow start as well, making only four of their first 17 shots compared to the Red Wolves converting four of their first 16.

The Red Wolves scored 36 points in the second half on 13-of-28 shooting (46 percent) and went 3-of-5 (60 percent) from the arc. A-State was 13-of-14 (93 percent) on the game from the charity stripe while the Mountaineers were 10-of-19 (53 percent).

A-State had four players finish in double figures marking the 10th time in 11 games that three or more players reached double figures. Kelvin Downs had eight points in 25 minutes off the bench, including a trey in the first half, his first of the season.