ASU sweeps S.C. road games
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — At one point of its season, Appalachian State was nursing a three-game losing streak and faced five road games before returning to the friendly confines of the Holmes Center.

One month later, the Mountaineers won four of those games on the road, including their 52-49 win over Wofford Thursday night in front of 1,342 at Benjamin Johnson Arena. The win was Appalachian State's third straight, all coming in South Carolina.

The Mountaineers open a three-game homestand Saturday against North Division rival UNC Greensboro looking to climb into second place in the division.

"It's huge for us," Mountaineers coach Houston Fancher said of the Mountaineers' road success. "We're 3-1 on the road in conference play right now is bigger than anything. We've had one conference game at home so far, so we've got the majority of them down the stretch."

"We've got to go home and play better," Fancher added. "We haven't played well at home, yet."

Then again, the Mountaineers (8-6, 3-2 SoCon) haven't played at home in a while. Their last home game was Dec. 17 when they beat Virginia-Wise 82-77. Before then, they lost to Davidson and Wichita State in two November games.

Overall, Appalachian State has played 11 of its 14 games away from Boone.

"We need to find a way to play a complete game at home to try to capitalize on the things we've done well on the road, now," Fancher said.

Their win over Wofford did not come easy. The Mountaineers needed some last second fortune after nearly giving the Terriers (8-6, 1-3) a chance to win the game. Leading 50-49, Appalachian State's Davis Bowne inbounded the ball to Donald Sims with 14.9 seconds left in the game.

However, Wofford's Drew Gibson stole the inbounds and passed it to Junior Salters. But Bowne quickly redeemed himself by tipping Salters' pass downcourt. Sims stole the ball and was fouled with 8.4 seconds left.

"It was designed to go to me and I was supposed to knock the free throws down," Sims said. "Gibson did a good job defending me and I didn't come to the ball. I went away from the ball, but fortunately they turned it back over and we got the win."

Sims, a 90.7 percent free throw shooter, calmly drained both of his foul shots, and Gibson's 3-pointer just before the buzzer did not go down.

"We knew they were going to try to get the ball to Sims," Gibson said. "He's shooting about 90 percent from the line. I knew they were going to throw it to him, so I just stepped in and got the steal."

Sims, who has hit 43-of-47 foul shots this year, including a stretch that saw him make 28 straight, finished with nine points in a game that was marred by very physical play and average shooting. The Mountaineers hit 40 percent of their shots from the field, but the Terriers also settled for 40 percent shooting.

Appalachian State got 12 points from Kellen Brand and seven from Donte Minter inside. Defensively, Appalachian State concentrated its effort on stopping Gibson, Shane Nichols and Salters, who played a key role when Wofford combined to hit 17-of-35 3-point baskets in an 85-78 loss to Chattanooga on Jan. 3.

The effort worked as the Terriers settled for making 6-of-13 from beyond the 3-point arc. Wofford got 15 points from Nichols and 10 from center Tim Johnson. Gibson settled for four points on 1-of-6 shooting from the field.

"We tried to be there on the catch the best we could," Fancher said. "Ninety percent of our attention went to being there on the catch and and making sure that we had a hand up so they didn't catch and shoot it in rhythm. We wanted them shoot out of their rhythm a bit because they are good shooters."

"Coach really talked about being there on the catch and making sure we were down and ready to play defense," Brand added.

Appalachian State looked ready to win by double digits when it took a 33-24 lead early in the second half following a Brand 3-pointer. But Wofford came back with a 12-2 run to claim a 36-35 lead with 10:02 left in the game. Neither team led by more than four points the rest of the game.

Brand compared guarding Wofford's perimeter shooters to guarding Davidson sharpshooter Stephen Curry, who uses a lot of screens to get open.

"It was sloppy, but it was one of the sloppiest, toughest games I've ever played in my life," Brand said. "I haven't run off this many screens since Curry. It felt pretty good running off the screens and getting hit by the big guys. It was a fun game and a fun atmosphere to play in."

Appalachian State 52, Wofford 49
Appalachian State (8-6, 3-2)
Clayton 3-6 0-0 6, Minter 3-8 1-2 7, Sims 2-9 4-4 9, Bermudez 2-4 1-3 5, Brand 5-10 0-0 12, Abraham 0-2 0-0 0, Booth 0-1 0-0 0, Butts 0-3 0-0 0, Bowne 3-3 1-1 7, McLaughlin-Williams 2-3 0-0 6. Totals 20-49 7-10 52.
Wofford (8-6 1-3)
Dahlman 1-3 0-0 2, Shatley 2-5 0-0 4, Gibson 1-6 2-4 4, Salters 2-6 0-0 6, Nichols 5-10 1-2 15, Nixon 0-1 0-0 0, Estep 1-1 0-0 2, Godzinski 1-3 0-0 2, Johnson 4-7 2-6 10, Martin 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 19-47 5-12 49.
Halftime score-ASU 28, Wofford 24. 3-point goals-ASU 5-18 (McLaughlin-Williams 2-3, Brand 2-5, Sims 1-6, Bermudez 0-1, Booth 0-1), Wofford 6-13 (Nichols 4-7, Salters 2-4, Gibson 0-1, Godzinski 0-1). Rebounds-ASU 28 (Clayton 7), Wofford 34 (Three with six). Assists-ASU 8 (Sims 3), Wofford 7 (Gibson 4). Turnovers-ASU 9, Wofford 13. Total fouls-ASU 11, Wofford 12. Fouled out-None. Technical fouls-None. A-1,324.