ASU begins

key road trip
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

Though it’s certainly no time to panic, Appalachian State faces some sense of urgency when it takes to the road for its next three games.

The Mountaineers, who are 0-2 in the Southern Conference (5-6 overall), begin their South Carolina tour Thursday when they play at College of Charleston. A showdown at The Citadel this Saturday is followed by a game at Wofford on Jan. 10.

It’s a chance for the Mountaineers to climb back into the thick of the Southern Conference’s North Division race. Appalachian State will not play a North Division team until Jan. 12 when it hosts UNC Greensboro.

Having a 3-2 conference record going into that game would give the Mountaineers some badly needed momentum. A win over Arkansas back on Dec. 22 was balanced with a 72-69 loss at East Tennessee State last Sunday in a game that saw the Mountaineers fall behind by 21 points, only to come back to within one point.

The Mountaineers are no strangers to road games. They’ve played eight of their first 11 games on the road. After this trip, they’ll play their next three at the Holmes Center.

“We’ve already played eight of our first 11 on the road and it will be 11 of 14 on the road after this, so it’s not something that we haven’t seen before,” Fancher said. “We’’ve got to go on the road to a tough environment and you’ve got to find a way to win a ballgame on the road if you want to put yourself in the position to compete for a bye in the tournament.”

Ah, yes, the Southern Conference Tournament. The key for any team in the tournament is to capture one of the five first-round byes that are offered, because no team that has had to play in the first round has ever won the tournament. Only one, Furman, has even made it to the finals.

It would help the Mountaineers to beat College of Charleston at John Kresse Center, a place Appalachian State won 68-57 last season. It was the Mountaineers’ first victory at John Kresse.

Last year, the Cougars avenged two regular-season losses with an 89-87 overtime win in the SoCon tournament semifinals.

This year, Charleston goes into the game with a 1-1 SoCon record, and are 6-6 overall. They are led by guard Tony White, who averages 12.9 points per game. The Cougars also lean on freshman Andrew Goudelock (12.4 ppg) and Jermaine Johnson (12.3 ppg).

The Cougars are also coached by Bobby Cremins, who guided Appalachian State to its first NCAA tournament appearance in 1979 and Georgia Tech to the Final Four.

“It’s a tough place to play because it’s a full house and it’s a tough place to play because they’ve got good players,” Fancher said. “If they stunk, it would not be a hard gym to play in. They’ve got really good freshmen and they’ve got Jermaine Johnson, who is a good power forward on the inside. And of course, coach Cremins will have them ready to go.

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Fancher was concerned about getting off to a faster start. In both the Mountaineers’ win over Arkansas and their loss to East Tennessee State, they fell behind early and had to rally to catch up.

Appalachian State guard Donald Sims went on a personal 10-0 run to help the Mountaineers overtake Arkansas, but the Mountaineers fell behind by 21 points in the second half against East Tennessee State and never completely recovered.

Center-forward Donte Minter leads the Mountaineers in scoring with 12.0 points per game, while guard Kellen Brand chips in 11.1 per game. Sims is the other Mountaineer scoring in double figures at 10.5 per game.

Fancher would like to see more consistency in his scorers. Sims scored 24 points at Arkansas, but hit just 3-of-10 shots for 13 points against East Tennessee State. Minter scored seven points against ETSU, but was dominant against Arkansas when he scored 20 points against a huge Arkansas front line.

“We’re growing as a team and working to get better,” Fancher said. “From a preparation standpoint, from an understanding standpoints and from a focus standpoint, we have got to be established in that every night for us to win on the road.”