Appalachian St. 86, Georgia Southern 75

Published Mar. 6, 2009 10:01 p.m. ET

foxsports

Jeremi Booth scored a career-high 20 points to lead Appalachian State to an 86-75 victory over Georgia Southern in the first round of the Southern Conference tournament on Friday. Josh Hunter and Kellen Brand each scored 16 points for the Mountaineers (13-17). Tyler Troupe led the Eagles (8-22) with 20 points. Appalachian State will face Davidson in the quarterfinals on Saturday. Defense appeared to be optional in the first half as Appalachian State shot 69 percent from the floor (20 of 29), while Georgia Southern shot 54.5 percent (18 of 33). The Mountaineers led 47-44 at the break. Appalachian State grabbed control of the game with a 15-2 run to go ahead 62-49. The Eagles closed within seven at 80-73 when Colby Wohlleb hit a 3-pointer with 31 seconds left, but the Mountaineers went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line to seal the win.