Mountaineers race

past Mocs
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

In December, no Appalachian State lead seemed to be safe. In January, once the Mountaineers take a lead, it stays with them.

Appalachian State took a 15 point lead on Chattanooga and never let it go in the Mountaineers’ 92-83 victory in front of 2,574 at the Holmes Center Thursday night.

Mountaineers coach Houston Fancher was happy with the win, but also cautioned that with 20 SoCon games, the Mountaineers are only seven games into the conference schedule.

“They could have created some major separation tonight with a win,” Fancher said. “I don’t know if we are good enough or would have been in position to chase them down three behind. The thing we have to factor in, and it’s getting swept under the rug, is that no matter how good your start is, we’ve still got 20 games to play conference-wise. There’s where the race becomes longer now.”

An increasingly familiar source, point guard Donald Sims, did the most damage to the Mocs by scoring 28 points. Sims hit 6-of-11 from 3-point range, 9-of-20 overall from the field and made all four of his free throw attempts.

Sims also dished out eight assists and pulled down seven rebounds. He and some of the other Mountaineers took time after the game to celebrate with the student section of the Holmes Center.

“It was a great win for us,” Sims said. “We haven’t given the crowd much to cheer about in past home games, but we came out today and had a great game.”

Sims did not do it all by himself. Donte Minter scored 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting, while Kellen Brand scored 13 points. Doug McLaughlin-Williams added 11 points, courtesy of 3-of-6 shooting from 3-point range.

Chattanooga coach John Shulman said Minter gave the Mocs matchup problems.

“They do a great job with Minter,” Shulman said. “If you double Minter, he’s a great passer. They kick and kick and get open looks. If you don’t double Minter, he’s a strong bull with unbelievable offensive skills and can shoot the ball.”

The Mountaineers did the big and little things to beat the Mocs. Appalachian State had 23 assists on 34 made baskets, and Jeremy Clayton tied a school record with eight blocked shots to go with his eight points, three steals and four rebounds.

Davis Bowne led the Mountaineers with 10 rebounds, and the Mountaineers did not miss a foul shot in 10 attempts.

“Every game we play is a big win,” Minter said. “I think this one was bigger because they were undefeated.”

ASU 92, Chattanooga 83
Chattanooga (12-6, 7-1)
Watts 2-6 2-2 7, Doaks 10-16 1-4 22, Hartwell 6-9 2-5 14, McDowell 5-15 0-0 14, Bridgewater 4-12 0-3 9, Ferrell 0-0 0-0 0, waddell 1-1 0-0 2, Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Gwynne 2-3 0-0 5, Goffney 3-6 2-3 9. Totals 33-68 8-19 83.
Appalachian State (10-6, 5-2)
Clayton 4-5 0-0 8, Minter 8-11 2-2 18, Sims 9-20 4-4 28, Bermudez 0-7 2-2 2, Brand 4-7 2-2 13, Abraham 2-3 0-0 6, Booth 1-6 0-0 2, Bowne 2-3 0-0 4, McLaughlin-Williams 4-7 0-0, Butts 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 34-69 10-10 92.
Halftime score—ASU 46, UTC38. 3-point goals—UTC 9-23 (McDowell 4-13, Goffney 1-1, Gwyne 1-1, Watts 1-1, Doaks 1-2, Bridgewaters 1-5); ASU 14-34 (Sims 6-11, Brand 3-5, McLaughlin-Williams 3-6, Abraham 2-3, Booth 0-4, Bremudez 0-5). Rebounds—UTC 39 (Doaks 10), ASU 38 (Bowne 10). Assists—UTC 13 (Watts 4), ASU 23 (Sims 8). Turnovers—UTC 17, ASU 16. Total fouls—UTC 14, ASU 16. Fouled out—None. Tech. fouls—None. A—2,574.