Appalachian State men’s basketball cut a 30-point second half deficit to just four points, but fell 79-71 in its season opener at Michigan on Tuesday evening.
With 12:59 left in the game, Michigan (1-0) opened a 67-37 lead. From there, App State (0-1) scored nine straight points to cut the Wolverine lead to 67-46 with just over 10 minutes to play.
Following a Wolverine three, the Mountaineers scored 18 consecutive points, with 11 coming from Justin Forrest, to pull within six points at 70-64 with 2:23 to play.
After a Michigan layup, Adrian Delph drained a deep 3-pointer with 38 seconds left to cut the Mountaineer deficit to five points at 72-67.