Mountaineers ground

fast flying Eagles 88-81
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

Appalachian State coach Houston Fancher said the Mountaineers grew up as a team while playing games on the road. They grew into a half-game of first place of the Southern Conference’s North Division lead while playing at home.

The Mountaineers stayed one of the hottest teams in the SoCon Saturday by outlasting Georgia Southern 88-81 in front of 3,743 at the Holmes Center. Appalachian State (11-6, 6-2 SoCon) not only won its third straight at home and its sixth straight game overall, but the Mountaineers pulled to within a half-game of North leader Chattanooga. The Mocs fell to Davidson, also on Saturday, after losing to the Mountaineers Thursday.

“That was a good game between two talented basketball teams,” Fancher said. “Georgia Southern is a very talented basketball team. They are really quick off the dribble and they’ve got people who can shoot it. They are really athletic around the bucket.”

This one did not come easy for the Mountaineers, who often struggled with the Eagles’ speed. Georgia Southern guards Willie Powers (16 points), Dwayne Forman (15 points) and forward Louis Graham (22 points, 11 rebounds) used their quickness to create scoring opportunities.

But the Eagles could not compete with Appalachian State’s outside shooting, which has been excellent in the last three games. The Mountaineers hit 13-of-25 from beyond the 3-point arc (52 percent) and 50.9 percent overall from the field. Freshman point guard Donald Sims went 5-for-7 from behind the arc and finished with 19 points.

Kellen Brand hit three 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 20 points. Eduardo Bermudez also canned three 3-pointers and finished with nine points, even though Georgia Southern used a 2-3 zone that slowed the Mountaineers offense down at times.

The bombardment from the outside opened things up for Appalachian State’s inside players. Donte Minter scored 16 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and had four steals.

Jeremy Clayton added 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting, and blocked five shots, giving him 13 for the weekend.

He also grabbed six rebounds and had four assists before leaving the game in the final minute with an ankle sprain.

“I think the guys are playing with an extreme amount of confidence right now,” Sims said. “We have a lot of faith in each other and we like to get each other open shots.”

The Mountaineers didn’t trail often to the Eagles, who beat them 85-72 in Statesboro, Ga. back in December.

Appalachian State led 39-38 at halftime and took a 60-48 lead on a Bermudez basket from a Davis Bowne assist with 14:25 left in the game. But Georgia Southern (12-6, 5-3) countered with a 13-3 run to close to within 63-61 with 10:28 left.

It was 73-69 when the Mountaineers went on a 10-2 run capped by two Sims 3-pointers to claim an 83-71 lead that the Eagles would never seriously threaten.

Georgia Southern coach Jeff Price said the Appalachian State team that played in Statesboro and the one that beat his Eagles Saturday are completely different.

“It’s night and day,” Price said. “Houston has done a great job of regrouping his team. They’re much more intense. They’re so much more confident now. Obviously they’re shooting the ball a lot better, but they’re doing everything better.”

Fancher said that although the Mountaineers are playing as well as they have all season, they can improve, especially defensively.

“I think this team knows where we were and where we are and what we want to become,” he said. “I certainly don’t think, from a defensive standpoint, that we’re where we wanted to be the last three games. I don’t think we’ve guarded as well as we could have. I’m a little disappointed in the field goal percentage defense we’ve had. We’re still giving up too many offensive rebounds at times. So no matter how good we play, we can still find things to work on.”

Appalachian State plays at Furman Thursday and at Chattanooga Saturday.

Appalachian State 88, Georgia Southern 81
Georgia Southern (12-6, 5-3)
Fields 4-11 3-6 11, Graham 8-16 5-6 22, Foreman 6-9 0-0 15, Allen 1-7 0-0 2, Powers 7-13 2-3 16, Rucker 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 3-6 0-0 7, Hynes 1-2 0-0 2, Marshall 2-4 2-4 6, Ward 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-68 12-19 81.
Appalachian State (11-6 6-2)
Clayton 6-7 3-7 15, Minter 6-11 4-6 16, Sims 6-10 2-4 19, Bermudez 3-6 0-0 9, Brand 5-11 7-10 20, Abraham 2-7 0-2 6, Booth 0-2 0-0 0, Highsmith 0-0 0-0 0, Bowne 1-1 1-3 3, McLaughlin-Williams 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 29-57 17-32 88.
Halftime score—ASU 39, GSU 38. 3-point goals—GSU 5-15 (Foreman 3-4, Johnson 1-1, Graham 1-4, Marshall 0-2, Powers 0-2, Fields 0-2), ASU 13-25 (Sims 5-7, Bermudez 3-4, Brand 3-6, Abraham 2-4, McLaughlin-Williams 0-2, Booth 0-2). Rebounds—GSU 38 (Graham 11), ASU 34 (Minter 13). Assists—GSU 13 (Powers 5), ASU 19 (Bowne 6). Total fouls—GSU 22, ASU 16. Fouled out—None. Technical fouls—None. A—3,743.