Sims named player

of the week in SoCon
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

Appalachian State point guard Donald Sims was named the Southern Conference’s player of the week following his two-game performance last week.

Sims, a freshman from Gaffney, S.C., started last week with a 28-point night in a 92-83 win over North Division rival Chattanooga. Two games later, he scored 19 points in Appalachian State’s 88-81 victory over Georgia Southern.

Both games were at the Holmes Center.

The Mountaineers faced a 2-3 zone against Georgia Southern, which slowed them down somewhat. However, the Mountaineers adjusted and were able to maintain a lead that stretched to 12 points (60-48) at one point of the game.

“In the second half, we made some little adjustments at halftime and we did a better job of getting deeper in their zone and rotating the ball a little quicker instead of just dribbling against it,” Mountain-eers coach Houston Fancher said. “Donald stepped up and made some big shots and once again, he showed his ability to shoot the basketball.”

Sims leads the Southern Conference in free throw percentage at 89.1 percent, hitting 49-of-55 attempts. He averages 11.9 points per game, which is second to Donte Minter’s 12.6 points per outing.

Fancher said he would like to see as much of the Mountaineers’ offense go through Minter, who has improved his passing skills and is in better physical condition than he was last year.

“I’d be all for him touching it every time down the floor,” Fancher said. “He distributes the ball well and he forces three or four sets of eyes on him and that allows more guys to move without the ball and get open.

When he touches the ball deep in the post, it’s as good for us as dribble penetration ever was.”

Sims has helped lead an Appalachian State team that has won six straight and eight of its last nine games. The Mountaineers went into last week with a 3-2 SoCon record, improved to 5-2 and are a half-game behind Chattanooga for first place in the North Division.

The Mountaineers began their season comeback with a win over Arkansas.

That victory led to Appalachian State winning four of five games, all of them on the road.

“The defense is what’s held us together until the offense has really gotten clicking here,” Fancher said. “The defense was our backbone early on, but now the offense is playing with so much more confidence. We were able to play with confidence on the road and we were able to bring it back home and display it.”

The Mountaineers go back to the road Thursday night at Furman. The Paladins are one of the youngest team in the conference with seven freshmen on the roster.

However, Furman won its most recent game, a 74-66 victory over the College of Charleston. The victory snapped a four-game losing streak.

Justin Dehm, a 6-foot-1 freshman guard, leads the team in scoring with 11.3 points per game. Alex Opacic, a 6-10 junior forward, is second with 10.9 points per game and also pulls down 4.8 rebounds per outing.

“They are gaining confidence game-by-game,” Fancher said. “They’ve been in some tight situations. They lost to Elon on a last second shot, but they’re a very talented bunch of young kids.”