College of Charleston

slips past App State
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

There was no time that was more obvious that Appalachian State proved
it was struggling offensively than the final 2:45 of its 68-63 loss to
College of Charleston at the Holmes Center in front of 2,692 Thursday
night.

The Mountaineers (14-8, 9-4 Southern Conference) held a 63-58 lead
following Ryann Abraham’s 3-point basket. The Mountaineers had rallied
from an 11-point deficit from early in the second half and looked ready
to put the Cougars away for good.

It never happened. Instead, Appalachian State failed to score on its
final six possessions, while College of Charleston (11-12, 6-7) scored
the final 10 points of the game.

“A lot of that had to do with not making shots,” Mountaineers coach
Houston Fancher said. “As I look back tonight, I look at the number of
shots when we were looking at the goal wide open and that we did not
knock down and championship teams make those shots.”

Tony White Jr., who was a backup point guard last year, showed that as
a sophomore, he can be a go-to guy for the Cougars. White scored nine
of the Cougars’ final 12 points, including two foul shots with 14.5
seconds left that gave Charleston a 66-63 lead.

But the big basket that gave the Cougars a 64-63 lead was scored by
freshman Andrew Goudelock, who finished with 19 points. Appalachian
State had a chance to retake the lead, but an inbounds pass by Eduardo
Bermudez to Donald Sims was botched and the Cougars took over.

“(We had) no timeouts,” Bermudez said. “They overplayed the side of one
of the screens and I heard the ref said ‘four (seconds),’ so I passed
to the guy I could see open.”

Charleston, which lost four straight before beating The Citadel last
Monday, got some breaks against the Mountaineers, according to coach
Bobby Cremins. Appalachian State beat the Cougars 70-66 in Charleston
back on Jan. 3.

“The breaks finally went our way,” Cremins said. “Obviously that game
could have gone either way and it looked like it was going their way
again and it looked like another tough loss. We finally got some good
things to happen to us.”

Appalachian State’s offense was rarely in rhythm against the Cougars.
The Mountaineers shot 36.9 percent from the field, a season low.

Appalachian State was not helped by making just 5-of-25 shots from
3-point range. It was the third time in their last four games that the
Mountaineers failed to shoot over 40 percent from the field.

In the four games before that, all of them victories, Appalachian State
averaged 88.8 points per game.

The Mountaineers, who are averaging just 66.3 points per game in their
last four games, are 2-2 during that stretch. They host The Citadel
Saturday and Wofford Monday, two teams they beat on the road earlier
this season.

Donte Minter led the Mountaineers with 17 points, while Sims scored 13
points, but made just 4-of-13 shots. Jeremy Clayton pulled down 11
rebounds and blocked three shots, but had 10 rebounds by halftime.

It’s not like the Cougars, who hit 42.2 percent were sharpshooters, but
their 48.3 percent shooting from the field in the second half helped
them pull away. White scored 16 points and Jermaine Johnson scored 10
for Charleston, which plays Davidson Saturday.

College of Charleston 68, Appalachian State 63
College of Charleston (11-12, 6-7)
Johnson 5-8 0-2 10, Simmons 1-4 2-2 4, Wiggins 1-4 0-0 2, Goudelock
8-15 1-1 19, White 5-12 5-5 16, Monroe 1-6 1-2 3, Scott 4-8 0-0 9,
Hammond 2-6 0-2 5, Diarra 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-64 9-14 68.
Appalachian State (14-8, 9-4)
Clayton 3-5 0-0 6, Minter 7-13 3-3 17, Sims 4-13 2-2 13, Booth 3-6 0-0
6, Brand 1-8 2-2 4, Abraham 1-4 1-2 4, Bermudez 3-5 0-0 6, Highsmith
0-1 0-0 0, Bowne 0-4 0-0 0, McLaughlin-Williams 2-6 2-2 7. Totals 24-65
10-11 63.
Halftime score—CofC 30, ASU 27. 3-point goals—CofC 5-23 (Goudelock 2-7,
Scott 1-1, Hammond 1-4, Monroe 0-1, Wiggins 0-3), ASU 5-25 (Sims 3-10,
Abraham 1-2, McLaughlin-Williams 1-5, Bermudez 0-1, Highsmith 0-1,
Booth 0-2, Brand 0-4). Rebounds–CofC 41 (Johnson 9), ASU 41 (Clayton
11). Assists—CofC 7 (Hammond 3), ASU 11 (Four with two). Turnovers—CofC
6, ASU 6. Total fouls—CofC 11, ASU 14. Fouled out—None. Technical
fouls—None. A—2,692.