Gilyard scores 20 points in exhibition at Appalachian State
Mars Hill’s men’s basketball team lost an exhibition game at NCAA DI opponent Appalachian State University to open the 2018-19 season.
BOONE, N.C. – Mars Hill's men's basketball team lost an exhibition game at NCAA DI opponent Appalachian State University 125-62, Tuesday night at the Holmes Center. Austin Gilyard scored 20 points in the Lions' season opener.
Gilyard was 7-9 from the field and 5-7 from the foul line to account for his team high 20 points. He added two assists in the game. Reggie Wright followed with 10 points while Austin Stone pulled down five rebounds and added the same number of points. Nassyr Daniel added eight points and four rebounds in the contest. The Lions connected on 37.5% of their three-point attempts and 78.9% of their free throw attempts.
Justin Forrest led all scorers with 23 points to pace the Mountaineers. Adrian Delph came off the bench for ASU to score 16 points while Ronshad Shabazz added 12 markers. ASU connected on 62.9% of their field goals and 50% of their three-point attempts. ASU scored 34 points off Mars Hill miscues and scored 54 points in the paint.
Gilyard scored the first points in the contest with 19:06 on the clock to give MHU a 2-0 lead. Shabazz hit a 3-pointer on the Mountaineers' next possession and ASU would never trail again. ASU led by 22 points (52-30) with 3:07 left in the first half after Breki Gylfason hit a shot from behind the arc. The Mountaineers took a 60-39 lead into the locker room at halftime.
A layup by Daniel trimmed the Mountaineers' lead to 19 points (62-43) with 18:06 left in the second half but that was as close as the Lions would get.
Mars Hill will open regular season play this weekend when they compete in the South Atlantic Conference/Conference Carolinas Challenge this weekend. Mars Hill will face Limestone on Friday at 5:30 p.m. and then meet Belmont Abbey on Saturday, also at 5:30 p.m. Both contests will be played in Cuddy Arena on the Wingate University campus.
