Appalachian State

faces old rival
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

It might seem odd to those who have followed Southern Conference basketball that when East Tennessee State hosts Appalachian State Sunday in the Memorial Center, that Tim Smith and D.J. Thompson will not be playing.

Smith, East Tennessee State’s former explosive point guard, and his rival Thompson, the former slick Appalachian State point guard, have moved on from their programs. The two provided their respective teams plenty of highlights over the course of their four-year careers.

“There will be some new faces out there,” Moun-taineers coach Houston Fancher said. “They had their share of battles a couple of years ago and we’ll have a new one of the 30th.”

Instead of the two outstanding point guards, the Buccaneers and the Mountaineers bring a bunch of new players looking to build momentum before they get into the bulk of their conference schedules. Fancher was happy to see Donte Minter score 20 points in the Mountaineers’ 74-67 victory over Arkansas last Saturday.

Minter also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds in a victory that saw the Mountaineers fall behind 15-7 early, but rally behind 10 straight points from guard Donald Sims and eventually pull in front by 14 points.

The win was Appalachian State’s second after the Mountaineers had lost to Davidson, Wichita State and Georgia Southern. Appalachian State beat Virginia-Wise Dec. 16 before surprising Arkansas.

“It didn’t have anything to do with conference play, but I think it shows what we are capable of doing,” Fancher said of the Arkansas win.

Fancher said it will take a similar effort to beat an East Tennessee State team that is one of the better teams in the Atlantic Sun Conference. The Bucs are coming off a tough 82-80 overtime loss to Louisiana Lafayette in the final of the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii despite Kevin Tiggs scoring a career-high 27 points. Tiggs, a 6-foot-4 junior, also pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds.

Courtney Pigram added 17 points and Andrew Reed scored 14. The Bucs, coached by Murry Bartow, beat Georgia 76-58 in the first round of the Rainbow Classic. Just one game before, Syracuse hammered East Tennessee State 125-75.

East Tennessee State also split a two-game series with Marshall and lost to Oklahoma State after playing the Cowboys tough for the first 34 minutes of the game.

“They’ve played as tough of a schedule as anybody,” Fancher said. “They played Oklahoma State until the final six minutes.”

Pigram leads the team in scoring with 16.9 points per game. Tiggs is second with 15.8 ppg.

“They’re solid all the way around,” Fancher said. “They also have a solid bench. They shoot it well and they’re well coached.”

Appalachian State’s scoring has been balanced with at least five players averaging at least eight points per game. Minter scores at a 12.5 points per game clip, while guard Kellen Brand is second with 11.6 ppg. Sims, coming off a 24-point performance at Arkansas, is third with 10.3 ppg.

Guards Eduardo Bermudez (8.4 ppg) and Ryann Abraham (8.0) also average at least eight points per game. ASU forward Jeremy Clayton chips in 7.8.

“We’re starting to see the fruits of our hard work the last three weeks,” Fancher said. “They practice hard every day and it’s good to see it pay off.”