BOONE, N.C. (AP) -- D.J. Thompson drove the length of the court for a tie-breaking layup with one second left to give Appalachian State an 81-79 win over East Tennessee State on Wednesday.
The Mountaineers (6-5, 1-1 Southern Conference) led 40-28 at the half and were ahead by 15 points with 11:41 remaining when East Tennessee started a 19-10 run to pull within six points with 4:00 on the clock.
Several traded baskets later, the Buccaneers' Dillion Sneed tied the game 79-79 with a putback with 49 seconds remaining and the ETSU defense forced a turnover to win possession with 36.7 seconds to go.
But a miss by Tim Smith put the ball back in the Mountaineers' hands with 5.6 seconds left, giving Thompson the opening for the winning drive.
Smith led all scorers with 29 for East Tennessee, while Sneed scored 13 points and added 17 rebounds. Travis Strong scored 19 points and Andrew Reed added 13 for the Buccaneers.
Noah Brown led Appalachian State (4-8, 0-2) with 15 points, while Derek Thomas added 13 points and 11 rebounds. Demetrius Scott scored 11 points and Thompson added 10.
