BOONE, N.C.---The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga lost 80-74 to Appalachian State in the Holmes Center Thursday night.  The loss dropped the Mocs to 14-16 on the year, 6-11 in the Southern Conference North Division and pushed App State to 19-11, 12-5 in the North.

Ricky Taylor led Chattanooga with his second straight 22-point effort.  Ridge McKeither added 12 points and a team-high five rebounds scoring all his points in the second half.

ASU's Donald Sims and Kellen Brand combined for 40 points with Sims matching Taylor's 22, while Brand added 18 points, six rebounds and three assists.  Isaac Butts was big for the Mountaineers with 13 rebounds and four blocks.

Down 35-29 at the break, Ty Patterson opened the second half with a three-pointer to cut it to 35-32 at 19:32,  It was 40-36 at 17:15 when App State went on a 18-9 run to push to its largest lead (13), 58-45 on a layup by Josh Hunter at 11:46.

The Mocs were down but not out.  UTC responded with a 19-6 run of its own to close within one, 65-64, on a Patterson layup going coast-to-coast off a steal with 4:27 remaining.

It was not to be for the Mocs.  Hunter's three-point play at 4:07 ended the run and the Mountaineers held on from there.  Two Sims three-pointers down the stretch made the difference as Appalachian held on for the six-point win.

App State held a 36-26 advantage on the glass including 11 offensive rebounds.  The Mountaineers' 15-7 advantage in second chance points was key to the win.  Jeremi Booth had 12 points for ASU as Hunter tossed in 11. 

Patterson scored 10, all in the second half, for the Mocs and made a career-high four steals.  Keegan Bell added 10 assists which is his highest total in a league contest.

The Mocs close out the regular season at Western Carolina on Saturday. Game time is slated for 3 p.m., and will be broadcast on SportSouth as part of SoCon Saturday.

Catch all of the Mocs' action on ESPN Radio 105.1 FM with the Voice of the Mocs, Jim Reynolds, providing play-by-play in his 30th season behind the microphone.  Live stats, live video (selected games) and audio are also available on GoMocs.com.