Mountaineers face

rival in showdown
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

Appalachian State found out just what it was like not to have its leading scorer and second-leading rebounder for one game. It’s something they would not like to go through again.

Donte Minter, Appalachian State’s 6-foot-9 power forward, missed the Mountaineers’ 56-52 win over Elon Monday because of the flu. Minter practiced Thursday morning and should be in the lineup with the Mountaineers play at rival Western Carolina at the Ramsey Center Saturday at 7 p.m.

“He’s not 100 percent, but he’s recovering,” Mountaineers coach Houston Fancher said. “He doesn’t have his legs yet, but he’ll go (Friday). There is still plenty of time left for him to get ready to play.”

The Mountaineers struggled offensively without Minter, who scores 12.6 points per game. Appalachian State got a big game out of 6-7 forward Jeremy Clayton, who scored 12 points and brought down 17 rebounds. He also blocked six shots, which tied him for the Appalachian State all-time lead with 193.

But Minter can not only help the Mountaineers with his scoring, but also with his passing. In fact, Chattanooga coach John Shulman called Clayton and Minter the “point guards” of the Mountaineers, since they do so much passing, especially when the face double teams.

“Our offense is run through them,” Fancher said. “They are the strength of our team. We try to play inside out and our offense revolves around Donte, Jeremy and Davis (Bowne) making good decisions in there.”

But the Mountaineers could not force a faster tempo, which is what Elon took away during Monday’s game.

The Phoenix held Appalachian State to 37.2 shooting, a season low, and 21 first-half points, which was nearly a season low. Appalachian State scored 20 points in the first half of its loss to East Tennessee State.

They face a Western Carolina team trying to get back on its feet. The Catamounts (6-14, 2-8) lost to Georgia Southern Monday night, giving them four losses in their last five games.

Brandon Giles leads the Catamounts in scoring with 14.9 points per game.

He has hit 35-of-83 (42.3 percent) of his 3-point shots. Jake Robinson averages 9.8 points per game and has made 49-of-130 3-point shots.

The Catamounts have been stung by players leaving the program, but Fancher is impressed with the players they have left.

“The thing about them is that they are down in numbers, but they have got good players and they are playing well together,” Fancher said. “They seem to have a very good chemistry about them as a group. They are very athletic and they are big. They have good size, particularly on the perimeter.”

The Mountaineers’ point guard tandem of Donald Sims and Ryann Abraham will try to recover from not making a shot against Elon. The two went 0-for-9 from the field, but Sims hit 9-of-10 from the foul line, including four straight in the game’s final minute.