AJT-Sports Live From... Holmes Center (ASU men's basketball vs. Milligan College

Update #9: It's apparently free tacos for all as the Mountaineers hit the century mark in a 100-68 runaway win over Milligan College. Gilbert paces ASU with 22 points, with 18 from Hamilton, 12 from Burgess and 11 from Neal. ASU out-rebounded the Buffaloes by more than 20 boards in the game, including a game-high 17 rebounds from Michael Obacha.

That'll wrap it up from Holmes Center. ASU's next home game is Monday, Dec. 30, against Bluefield College. Thanks for reading!

Update #8: Dustin Clarke entered the game for the Mountaineers at around the 6:30 mark, and scored on a layup inside. ASU has pulled away and has the game well in hand, leading 94-58 with 3:58 remaining.

Update #7: Appalachian has extended its advantage to 80-55 with 7:53 left in the contest. Michael Obacha of ASU has only four points, but pulled down 16 rebounds. Milligan has only 26 rebounds as a team.

Update #6: ASU holds a 67-53 lead with 11:39 to play. Kurt Brooks and Tori Sitton leads Milligan with nine points. Gilbert and Hamilton each have 18 points for the Mountaineers, with 10 from Burgess. The size of ASU has been a major factor, outrebounding Milligan 39-23 for the game.

Update #5: ASU leads Milligan 62-46, with 15:18 to play in the game, but has managed only two points in the past three minutes of game time. The Mountaineers once held a 60-39 lead, but a Buffaloes' 7-2 run has again cut into the Mountaineers' lead.

Update #4: ASU extended its lead in the closing minutes, as six-foot, eight-inch Rantavious Gilbert has been strong on the offensive glass and scored 14 points in the half. Appalachian leads Milligan 50-39 at halftime.

Hamilton has 11 points to put to Mountaineers in double-figures scoring. Two other players, Chris Burgess (8 points) and Mike Neal (9 points) will likely join the fraternity early in the second half.

Cartree Pettis leads Milligan with 8 points

Update #3: Milligan is shooting 55 percent from the field for the game, compared to 45.5 percent for the Mountaineers. Milligan has cut the App lead to 40-34 with 3:20 remaining in the half.

Update #2: The Buffaloes begin an offensive stampede to cut ASU's lead to 36-29, forcing an Appalachian timeout with 5:15 left in the half. A pair of Mickey Woods baskets have sparked the Milligan run.

Update #1: ASU leads Milligan 29-19. Milligan has committed seven turnovers in the first 9.5 minutes of the contest. Mike Neal has nine points for the Mountaineers, with eight points from Tab Hamilton.

We're in Boone on a rainy December Saturday for non-conference basketball action between ASU and Milligan. ASU is looking to break a three-game losing skid and sit at 2-8 for the season. Milligan stands at 8-4 overall. With students off for holiday break, the crowd is a little sparse, but still hearty.

At the first media timeout, ASU leads Milligan College 13-6 behind six points from Chris Burgess and a pair of baskets from Mike Neal. Cartree Pettis has two buckets for Milligan,while Hendersonville HS product Torian Sitton has a basket to account for the Buffaloes' scoring.

Updates as they transpire, and thanks for reading...

Lees-McRae/ASU battle in early season matchup

ASU MEN'S BASKETBALL LIVE FROM... HOLMES CONVOCATION CENTER (ASU v. Lees-McRae)

UPDATE 7: Avery alum Dustin Clarke sees his first action of the season with just less than two minutes to play in the ballgame and App State holding a 20-point lead. Clarke grabbed one rebound and missed his lone shot attempt as teh Mountaineers defeat Lees-McRae by a final score of 91-63. 

UPDATE 6: Final media timeout at 3:17 to play in the ballgame, with App State leading 82-62. LMC has cut the lead to as little as 14 in the half, but App State has used its athleticism to get second-shot opportunities and maintain its margin.

UPDATE 5: 7:10 remains in the second half, and App State has a commanding 72-54 lead over Lees-McRae. 

UPDATE 4: The Mountaineers has stretched its lead to 20 at 68-48 with 10:31 to play in the second half. Mike Chambers and Darryl Bond have scored double figures for LMC, while three Mountaineers are in double-figures, led by Mike Neal's 21 points. Hamilton has 16 points, with 11 points from Michael Obacha.

UPDATE 3: App State continues to hold a 17-point advantage at 56-39 at the 15:40 mark of the second half.

UPDATE 2: ASU builds a 17-point lead late in the first half, taking advantage of a number of Bobcats turnovers to lead 47-30. Neal and Hamilton are both in double-figures scoring in the opening half. At halftime, ASU takes a 47-33 lead into the locker room.

UPDATE 1:

App State took the floor for its second men's basketball home game of the 2013-14 season as it took on local Division II rival Lees-McRae College, from nearby Banner Elk.

ASU took control early and built a double-figures lead on the strength of 12 early points from guard Mike Neal. Fellow guard Tab Hamilton poured in eight points midway through the first half as the Mountaineers built a 37-25 advantage with just less than five minutes to play. More updates from Holmes Convocation Center during the contest.

Vols unable to upset Georgia in OT

For a while, it seemed like Rocky Top might be the site of the season’s biggest upset. However, the Volunteers still sent a loud message.

Tennessee saw a fumble roll out of the endzone in their first possession of overtime as they fell 34-31 to No. 6 Georgia on Saturday inside Neyland Stadium. Despite the loss, the Vols sent a message to the rest of the college football world that they aren’t the pushovers as in the past seasons.

"It's another step, another building block,” Tennessee Head Coach Butch Jones said. “We need to learn how to win these football games. That's a part of the process of learning how to win, but you can see it. I can see it evolving. I can see it everyday. I can see it the way we are excelling in the classroom. I can it the way our attention in the meetings. I can see the preparation in practice. I can see it and we're going to need a lot as we continue to move forward but we have very prideful great character kids in our football program."

After trailing 17-3 at the half, Tennessee cut into the deficit midway through the third quarter when Marquez North caught an 18-yard touchdown pass from Justin Worley. The Volunteers tied the game in the closing minute of the third quarter as former Dobyns-Bennett standout Devaun Swafford scooped up a blocked punt and returned it 15-yards for the a touchdown.

Georgia regained the lead on the first play of the fourth quarter, but Tennessee battled back with two touchdowns from Raijon Neal as the Vols took a 31-24 lead with 1:54 remaining. During the drives, Tennessee converted three fourth downs.

However, Aaron Murray marched the Georgia offense down the field and threw a touchdown pass with five seconds remaining to send the game into overtime.

In the first overtime, Tennessee saw their possession end when Pig Howard dived for the endzone, but the ball slipped out inches before touching the pylon for the score. Georgia took over on the touchback and won the game with a 42-yard field goal.

Worley finished the game 17-of-31 for 215 yards and a score, while Neal had 148 yards on 28 carries with two touchdowns.

"I thought Justin probably played his best game,” Jones said. “He was poised. He made the plays. I thought our offensive line played well. Rajion Neal's a warrior. He's playing like we expect our seniors to play. He's giving us everything he has. He's been injured and he's been a warrior. He's added another spark to us."

A.J. Johnson paced the Tennessee defense with 12 total tackles, six of which were solo.

For a program that has saw a signature win elude them for four seasons, the Tennessee players knew how to use the overtime loss in a positive manner without the Jones’ guidance.

"Great thing is I didn't have to be the one to say it,” Jones said. “Other players said it. They talked about a lot to play for and keep building and they can see it. They can see the progress. Obviously I told them that too. They know I love them. We have a saying in our football family, ‘I got your back,’ and everyone has each other's backs."

The Volunteers will have an open week before hosting South Carolina on Oct. 19.