Minter fuels

Appalachian

blowout win
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

Wofford found out the hard way just how good Appalachian State can play when the Mountaineers’ firepower from the perimeter matches their scoring down in the paint.

Appalachian State, which has struggled with its shooting as of late, had no problem scoring on the Terriers, who were playing their third road game in five days. The Mountaineers pounded Wofford 83-55 in front of 1,701 at the Holmes Center, who saw Appalachian State shoot 53.4 percent from the field and commit just five turnovers.

Donte Minter was once again the catalyst in Appalachian State’s offense. The 6-foot-9 center, at times, was nearly unguardable during his 24-point outburst. Minter made 9-of-11 shots from the field and 6-of-7 from the foul line.

When he wasn’t making shots, he was dishing out three assists and also making the first pass that eventually led to another pass and then a basket — all in just 23 minutes.

“He’s impossible,” Wofford coach Mike Young said of Minter. “If you’re going to call nick-nack stuff down there — I’ve got everybody but my trainer with three fouls. I thought he was going to foul everybody out.”

Minter was just one Mountaineer post player who hurt the Terriers (14-11, 7-8). Jeremy Clayton added 12 points and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.

Mountaineers coach Houston Fancher was happy with the way Minter, Clayton and fellow post player Davis Bowne played Monday in opposition to when the Mountaineers beat Wofford 52-49 in Spartanburg, S.C. back in early January.

“The difference from when we played them last time was that our post players did not go to Spartanburg,” Fancher said. “We had a tough time inside down in Spartanburg and today, we were able to establish ourselves in there and play the basketball game inside-out.”

Defensively, Appalachian State held the Terriers to just 32 percent shooting for the game and a meager 24 percent in the second half. Wofford went into the game hitting over 41 percent from 3-point range, but made 5-of-18 against the Mountaineers.

Point guard Drew Gibson did the most damage with 13 points, but shot 4-of-12 from the field. Shane Nichols added 10 points, and post player Noah Dahlman scored 11.

“We did a good job and they missed some shots that they normally make,” Fancher said. “We had pretty good pressure on them. We mixed our defenses up to try to keep them discombobulated a bit.”

It was not nearly enough to keep up with the Mountaineers, who took a 40-29 halftime lead after going on a 21-11 run. After Wofford cut the lead down to 58-48, Appalachian State buried the Terriers for good with a 12-0 run capped by a Kellen Brand stickback and a steal and a layup by Ryann Abraham.

That gave the Mountaineers a comfortable 70-49 lead with 5:53 left in the game that Wofford would never threaten. Donald Sims scored all of his eight points on two 3-pointers and a 2-point basket to keep the Terriers from making any comebacks.

Abraham came off the bench to score 13 points, while Eduardo Bermudez added 11 points, four rebounds, two steals and two assists.

Appalachian State’s 51 percent shooting was the second time in the Mountaineers’ last five games that they’ve shot over 50 percent. Appalachian State is 4-1 during that stretch, which includes a 75-71 win over The Citadel in a game that Minter scored 22 of his game-high 25 points in the second half.

“It was a good game for us on the perimeter,” Fancher said. “I don’t need to be the one to walk in the locker room and tell our guys they’re struggling offensively. They know the problem. They want to hear what the solution is.”

They showed Wofford what the solution was Monday night — make open shots and get the ball to Minter.

Appalachian State 83, Wofford 55
Wofford (14-11, 7-8)
Whatley 1-5 1-2 3, Martin 2-5 0-2 4, Gibson 4-12 4-4 13, Salters 2-8 1-2 6, Godzinski 2-6 1-2 6, Nichols 3-6 2-3 10, Nixon 0-0 0-0 0, Estep 0-6 0-0 0, Dahlman 5-7 1-2 11, ohnson 0-0 2-3 2, Crowell 0-2 0-0 0, Bellebaum 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-58 12-20 55.
Appalachian State (16-8, 11-4)
Clayton 4-7 4-6 12, Minter 9-11 6-7 24, Sims 3-8 0-0 8, Booth 1-5 0-0 2, Brand 2-4 2-3 6, Abraham 5-7 0-0 13, Archer 0-1 0-0 0, Bermudez 4-6 0-1 11, McMillan 0-0 0-0 0, Highsmith 1-2 0-0 3, Bowne 2-5 0-1 4, McLaughlin-Williams 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 31-58 12-18 83.
Halftime score—ASU 40, Wofford 29. 3-point goals—Wofford 5-18 (Nichols 2-5, Gibson 1-2, Dahlman 1-2, Godzinski 1-3, Salters 1-4, Estep 0-4), ASU 9-18 (Bermudez 3-3, Abraham 3-4, Sims 2-4, Highsmith 1-2, Booth 0-1, Brand 0-1, Archer 0-1, McLaughlin-Williams 0-2). Rebounds—Wofford 41 (Dahlman 7), ASU 35 (Clayton 7). Assists—Wofford 7 (Gibson, Nichols 2), ASU 17 (Booth 4). Turnovers—Wofford 10, ASU 5. Total fouls—Wofford 19, ASU 15. Fouled out—None. Technical fouls—None. A—1,701.