GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Gardner-Webb University men's basketball team fell in their Saturday afternoon game against Appalachian State University inside the Greensboro Coliseum Complex by a final score of 80-59. Caleb Robinson and DQ Nicholas each tallied double-digits in the loss.  
 
"In the first half we really did a good job of doing all the things we talked about.", said coach Craft. "We really protected the paint. We were keeping them off the glass. We didn't turn the ball over, we turned it over four times in the first half. We were getting good stops and getting good rebounds, and one area where I think that they hurt us was transition defense. They did capitalize on those turnovers and that was something we tried to clean up in the second half."
 
The Runnin' Bulldogs took advantage of a slow start by the Mountaineers building an early 17-13 lead in the opening nine minutes. This came behind early three pointers by Quest Aldridge, Julien Soumaoro and early jumpers by DQ Nicholas. The 'Dawgs hung on to their early lead with solid defensive rebounding and quick points in transition. Gardner-Webb maintained the lead extending it back to five with 2:31 left on a three from Lucas Stieber. Jordan Marsh of App State cut into the lead to make it 31-29 GWU at the half. 
 
Appalachian State gained their first lead of the game since the opening seconds at the beginning the second half netting a trio of threes. From there, the Mountaineers went on a 15-6 run in the first four and a half minutes. Their lead would grow to 20 just under the 10-minute mark, with the 'Dawgs answering the Mountaineers shot-per-shot in the next five minutes. Gardner-Webb continued to battle late in the contest with App State getting the 80-59 win.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Robinson led both teams in the ballgame with 18 points, and collected eight rebounds. Lucas Stieber led both teams in rebounding with nine. Nicholas was second in scoring with 12 points and six rebounds of his own. Soumaoro and Aldridge each dropped eight points with Aldridge scoring his second most on the season thus far.
 
UP NEXT
Gardner-Webb will next travel to take on the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Mocs on Tuesday Dec. 19 for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off.