Mountaineers power

past smaller Paladins
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

GREENVILLE, S.C. — There would be no comebacks at Timmons Arena Thursday night.

Appalachian State, which allowed a Furman comeback to beat them here last season, allowed no such thing Thursday. Instead, it was a steady barrage of Jeremy Clayton and Donte Minter, Appalachian State’s two main weapons, that lifted the Mountaineers in their 84-66 drubbing of Furman in front of 1,086.

It was the first time the Mountaineers (12-6, 7-2 SoCon) had beaten Furman in Greenville since 1999. Last year, the Mountaineers led by 11 points, but saw that lead vanish, and the Paladins gutted out a 76-72 overtime win.

That didn’t happen Thursday night. Once Appalachian State took a double-digit lead in the first half, the Paladins never got closer than 12 points the rest of the game.

“I looked up at the scoreboard and they had hit a few 3-pointers and it was like ‘Oh, no, not deja-vu again,’” Clayton said. “This year, we didn’t give up. I think last year we gave up a little bit. They were outplaying us. This year, we played hard with them and we were able to get out with a win.”

Clayton, nursing a sore ankle injured against Georgia Southern last Saturday, led the Mountaineers with 21 points, on 8-of-8 shooting, and pulled down 11 rebounds. Clayton also dished out six assists, blocked two shots and had two steals for the Mountaineers, who have won seven straight games and eight of their last nine.

“We need to hurt his ankle all the time,”Minter joked. “He’s playing outstanding right now. He’s playing the best ball on the team right now with Donald Sims.”

Clayton was not the only Mountaineer who was effective inside. Minter added 19 points (on 8-of-10 shooting), four assists, four rebounds and two blocked shots. Minter had 13 points in the first half and was virtually unstoppable when guarded by one defender.

“I think we came out with the right mindset,”Minter said. “We knew that they were kind of small in the post and we had to take advantage of that.”

It also did not hurt Appalachian State that Furman’s 6-foot-10 forward Alex Opacic, a junior from Sydney, Australia, got into early foul trouble. Opacic is second on the Paladins in scoring with 10.9 points per game, but did not score in 22 minutes against Appalachian State.

“We felt like we could go at them inside with our advantage there,” Mountaineers coach Houston Fancher said. “Donte got out to such a good start and Jeremy was emphatic in there, as well. When their big kid got his third foul in the first half, that opened the floodgates.”

Appalachian State, after taking an early 10-2 lead, found itself mired in a 23-23 tie. However, the Mountaineers went on a 16-5 run to claim a 39-27 lead that expanded to 46-32 by halftime.

From there, the Mountaineers never let their lead get into single digits. Furman pulled to within 51-39 on a Tony Anderson 3-pointer, but the Mountaineers pushed their lead back to 56-39 on an Eduardo Bermudez 3-pointer and an inside basket by Jeremi Booth, off an assist from Clayton.

Assists were plentiful for the Mountaineers, who shot 56.9 percent from the field, including 60.9 percent in the second half. Appalachian State racked up 21 assists on 29-of-51 shooting. Donald Sims, who scored 14 points himself, dished out eight assists and had just one of the Mountaineers’ 11 turnovers.

The Mountaineers also played their share of defense. Furman (3-16, 2-8 SoCon), a winner over College of Charleston last Saturday, shot 39.7 percent from the field and finished with 13 turnovers. Connor Nolte led the Paladins with 15 points, while Justin Dehm added 14. Jordan Miller chipped in 10.

The Mocs hit 12-of-32 3-point attempts, for 37.5 percent.

Appalachian State switches its attention to Chattanooga, which did not play Thursday and has not played since a loss at Davidson last Saturday. The Mocs, 7-2 in the Southern Conference (12-7 overall), lost to Appalachian State 92-83 in Boone on Jan. 17.

“It’s going to be a big one,” Minter said. “We’re tied for first and they’ve had a week off — they haven’t played anybody. It’s a tie-breaker, so it’s a big game for us.”