The Mountaineers survived on Thursday to beat Jacksonville by a score of 67-56. The game was littered with 51 combined fouls called on the night which provided for 62 free throw attempts between the two teams.
Appalachian led almost the entirety of the game, never surrendering after it took a 9-7 lead with 17:13 to play in the first half. The Mountaineers led by ten points at the break and pushed their lead to twelve in the second half. The Dolphins wouldn’t give up, cutting the Mountaineer lead to four on five different occasions in the final half.
Appalachian tallied four different players in double figures, with Frank Eaves leading the way with 18 points. Jake Babic added 13 points and five rebounds. Chris Burgess and Dustin Clarke chipped in ten points each.
For the game, five different Mountaineers combined to hit nine three pointers in the contest. Clarke, Burgess, Eaves and Babic hit two each while Tab Hamilton hit one off the bench.
Jacob Lawson served a one game suspension for a violation of team rules that stemmed from missing a class.
No spread was available for the game. That is common with schools from low-major conferences. Some books marked the game as a PK, but we won’t count that in our yearly standings. Today, Hofstra is 6 point favorite which seems to be an appropriate line. In each of the Mountaineers five games, their shooting percentage has improved from the field and behind the arc. This will be the fourth game this season that Appalachian is an underdog, but the first time they have a lined game at home this season. Hofstra has not lost this year against the spread. I think 6 points is plenty for Hofstra to cover in this game.