Niagara falls into Holmes
Mountaineers venture

out of SoCon slate
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

If nothing else, playing Niagara will give Appalachian State a chance to compete against the leading scorer in the nation.

That player, Niagara’s Charron Fisher, averages nearly 28 points per game. He and the rest of the Purple Eagles fly into the Holmes Center for a Saturday BracketBusters showdown.

Tip-off is at 1 p.m. The time was moved up to accommodate Niagara’s travel plans.

The Mountaineers, who plays two games in three days, took on Furman Thursday, but the results were not ready by press time. Appalachian State coach Houston Fancher knew a little bit about the Purple Eagles, who are 17-8 overall, 11-5 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. That’s good for first place, which is what the teams have in common.

Though Davidson has the best overall record in the Southern Conference, Appalachian State leads the North Division with an 11-6 league mark, 16-12 overall. However, the Mountaineers have struggled lately, losing their last two games. Both were away from the Holmes Center and both were North Division games. Fancher said it was important for the Mountaineers to get back to shooting the ball with confidence as they did during an eight-game winning streak in January.

“We had to try and find ourselves and I think we did,” Fancher said of practices earlier in the week. “We’re looking for momentum like everybody else.”

Fisher, a 6-foot-4 forward, scores at a 27.9 points per game clip. He can shoot the 3-point shot (60-of-182) and he can also get to the foul line, where he has made 207-of-268 attempts, good for 77 percent.

“I know that they are a talented team and they have the leading scorer in the nation,” Fancher said. “It’s a major challenge. It lets us improve ourselves without having any conference implications. It will be on a day when we only have one day to prepare, but it doesn’t affect the conference race.”

Fisher is not the Purple Eagles’ lone scoring threat. Tyrone Lewis, a 5-11 guard, averages 16.1 points per game and was named the MAAC’s Player of the Week last week. He also is not afraid to shoot from outside, as he has made 53-of-167 3-point attempts. Lewis is also a 72 percent foul shooter.