Bucs hold

off ASU rally
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — Appalachian State can certainly enjoy the fact that it scored 49 points in the second half Sunday against East Tennessee State.

The Mountaineers don’t like the fact that it was not enough to win the game. Appalachian State fell behind by 18 points in a disastrous first half and though the Mountaineers staged a furious rally, they could not overcome the Buccaneers and fell 72-69 at the Memorial Center.

Appalachian State (5-6) shot a horrid 23.3 percent (7-of-30) in the first half, including 1-for-7 in the first five minutes. Meanwhile, East Tennessee State (6-7) hit 57.7 percent of its shots, which led to four Bucs finishing in double figures in scoring. Andrew Reed led East Tennessee State with a career-high 24 points and rattled the Appalachian State rims with a handful of dunks, including one off a lob that put the Bucs in front 59-45.

Reed, who played the entire game, also pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.

“In the first half, we were clicking on all cylinders,” Reed said. “We were hitting our shots and getting some rebounds and we were getting back and playing some defense.”

So how did the Mountaineers, who once trailed 53-32 with 11:43 left in the game make such a big comeback? According to Mountaineers coach Houston Fancher, it was simple.

“We made shots,” Fancher said.

That wasn’t the cast in the first half when the Mountaineers fell behind 38-20 in the first half, which forced them to play from behind the rest of the game.

“Unfortunately we didn’t make shots early on,” Fancher said. “They shot the ball well and we didn’t answer them on the offensive end. You have to score with them and we weren’t doing that with this team. Then we’re fighting from 20 down the stretch and put pressure on ourselves coming from that far behind.”

Actually, the Mountaineers made their share of 3-point attempts. After hitting just 3-of-16 attempts in the first half, they nailed 10-of-18 in the second. The Mountaineers made 55.2 percent of their shots in the second half, which nearly paid off in a win.

Doug McLaughlin-Williams hit 4-of-7 from beyond the arc and finished with 12 points. Donald Sims had 13 points, but shot 3-of-10 from the field after scoring 24 points in the Mountaineers’ win over Arkansas. Sims also dished out nine assists in his first start of the season.

The Mountaineers didn’t make a serious run at East Tennessee State until a Ryann Abraham 3-pointer sparked a 14-0 run, capped by a McLaughlin-Williams trey, which pulled Appalachian to within 66-64 with 55.9 left in the game.

But the Bucs, who hit 19-of-24 foul shots in the game, nailed their final six attempts, four of them by Mike Smith, to win the game.

The Mountaineers struggled to make shots in the first half, even though they had open looks. Both teams struggled out of the gate, with Appalachian State leading 4-3 before Strong sparked a 12-0 run with an inside basket to give the Bucs a 15-4 lead.

Appalachian State trailed 38-20 at halftime and fell behind by 21, before a 12-3 run, sparked by three Jeremi Booth 3-point baskets, pulled ASU to within 56-42.

“He gave us a huge spark,” Fancher said of Booth. “He hit the three that got us started on our run. He’s worked hard in practice and we kept telling him to keep preparing himself in case the opportunity presented itself to step in. If he worked hard, good things will happen to him and tonight, he stepped in and made a couple of big ones for us.”

Smith finished with 15 points, while Courtney Pigram had 12 points and Kenona Swader added 10 for the Bucs.

“It was a good win,” East Tennessee State coach Murry Bartow said. “Obviously it got a little ugly a little late, but a win is a win is a win. Obviously I’m concerned. We’ve got to me more consistent for the entire 40 minutes.”

Jeremy Clayton scored nine points and pulled down seven rebounds for the Mountaineers.

ETSU 72, ASU 69
Appalachian State (5-6)
Clayton 3-7 3-9 9, Minter 3-6 1-4 7, Sims 3-10 4-4 13, Bermudez 2-6 1-2 5, Brand 2-8 1-2 6, Abraham 3-5 0-0 8, Booth 3-7 0-0 9, Highsmith 0-2 0-0 0, Butts 0-1 0-0 0, Bowne 0-0 0-0 0, McLaughlin-Williams 4-7 0-0 12.
East Tennessee State (6-7)
Swader 3-6 3-4 10, Reed 9-16 4-5 24, Tiggs 2-3 3-3 7, Pigram 5-9 2-2 12, Strong 1-5 0-0 3, Smith 3-7 6-8 15, Davis 0-1 1-2 1, Williams 0-1 0-0 0, Hubbard 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-48 19-24 72.
Halftime score—ETSU 38, ASU 20. 3-point goals—ASU 13-34 (McLaughlin-Williams 4-7, Booth 3-6, Sims 3-7, Abraham 2-3, Brand 1-6, Highsmith 0-2, Bermudez 0-2, Clayton 0-1), ETSU 7-17 (Smith 3-4, Reed 2-4, Swader 1-3, Strong 1-3, Pigram 0-2, Davis 0-1). Rebounds—ASU 37 (Clayton 7), ETSU 32 (Reed 12). Assists—ASU 16 (Sims 9), ETSU 15 (Pigram 7). Turnovers—ASU 16, ETSU 17. Total fouls—ASU 18, ETSU 18. Fouled out—None. Technical fouls—None. A—5,017.