Purple pain:

Mountaineers

fall on last-second shot
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

Stanley Hodge was not supposed to end up with the basketball at the end of Appalachian State’s BracketBusters game with Niagara Saturday.

Instead, with 4.2 seconds left in the game and with Appalachian State up by two, Niagara tried to get the ball to Charron Fisher, the leading scorer in the nation. But when Appalachian State’s Eduardo Bermudez slapped the ball away from Fisher as Fisher worked to get a shot off, there was no way Bermudez could expect the ball to go to Hodge.

Neither did Hodge, the sharpshooting Niagara guard. Hodge picked up the loose ball and drilled a 25-foot-dagger into the hearts of the Mountaineers and the 2,103 at the Holmes Center. Hodges’ 3-pointer, which he took with .3 seconds left on the clock, hit nothing but net and gave Niagara a shocking 76-75 victory over the Mountaineers.

“It just happened to come my way,” Hodge said, who felt that the ball was going in when he released it. “We got the ball to Charron, that’s who our first go-to was. When that happened, it bounced out to me. I didn’t know how much time was left, but I wanted to get this shot off, and I did.”

It was shocking not because Niagara won the game. The Purple Eagles (18-8) led by as many as nine points two times in the game, and there were 21 lead changes to go with nine ties.

But Appalachian State (17-11), which trailed 73-72, got an inside basket from Donte Minter and then a key stop when Fisher, who averaged 27.8 points per game going into Saturday, missed on the other end.

Jeremy Clayton grabbed the rebound with 13.1 seconds left and was fouled with the Mountaineers leading 74-73. He made his first foul shot, but missed his second, which Fisher rebounded.

Fisher went the length of the court, but he missed his attempt. A scrum for the ball followed and a jump ball was called with 4.2 seconds left. After a Niagara timeout, the inbounds pass went to Fisher, but Bermudez knocked the ball away as Fisher dribbled his way into position.

Bermudez could not catch up to his steal, and Hodge picked the ball up in front of the Niagara bench. His 3-pointer caused a celebration on the court for the Purple Eagles, and stunned looks of silence for the Mountaineers.

“To lose to a shot at the buzzer, it’s really hard,” Clayton said. “It was just a good shot. He made it. He didn’t have anybody on him. He threw it up and it went through.”

“Our poise was pretty good down the stretch and their poise was, too,” Niagara coach Joe Mihalich said. “It seemed who every scored last was going to win.”

The Mountaineers ended up being their own worst enemy by committing 23 turnovers, which led to 20 Niagara points.

Niagara also grabbed 19 offensive rebounds, seven by Benson Egemonye, which led to 23 points.

“Unfortunately, they threw one in at the buzzer that put them ahead, but I don’t think necessarily we’ll look back and think that was the thing that beat us,” Mountaineers coach Houston Fancher said. “What beat us was Niagara taking advantage of our turnovers and big plays and they rebounded the ball well on the offensive end.”

Niagara also went to the foul line 21 times, hitting 15 free throws. Appalachian State was 4-of-7 with Minter, Clayton and guard Ryann Abraham taking the attempts.

Those numbers counteracted the Mountaineers shooting 55.4 percent from the field, including a perfect 8-for-8 by Clayton, who finished with 17 points. Minter was also a handful for the Purple Eagles. He scored 17 points and dished out four of the Mountaineers’ eight assists.

Abraham led Appalachian State in scoring with 18 points, hitting 4-of-6 from 3-point range.

“We’ve got to regroup and get ready for a conference game at Davidson,” Clayton said.

Appalachian State’s defense held Niagara to 38 percent shooting from the field. Fisher finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Hodge scored 18 points. Egemonye finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds and point guard Tyrone Lewis added 10 points and six steals.

Fisher, Anthony Nelson, Hodge and Lewis all played 39 minutes.

“It was two heavyweight champs fighting it out,” Mihalich said. “It was only fitting that a senior was going to win the game. If one of our guys hadn’t done it, and I am so proud that Stanley did it, then it could have been the other way around. It could have been Minter doing that, too.”

Niagara 76, Appalachian State 75
Niagara (18-8)
Fisher 7-23 5-7 21, Nelson 3-8 3-4 9, Egemonye 6-10 4-6 16, Hodge 7-12 1-1 18, Lewis 4-16 0-1 10, Patterson 00 2-2 2, Williamson 0-1 0-0 0, Gordon 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-71 15-21 76.
Appalachian State (17-11)
Clayton 8-8 1-1 17, Minter 7-12 3-4 17, Sims 3-7 0-0 8, Bermudez 2-7 0-0 8, Brand 2-6 0-0 5, Abraham 7-11 0-1 18, Booth 2-3 0-0 6, Butts 0-1 0-0 0, Bowne 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 31-56 4-7 75.
Halftime score—Niagara 36, ASU 35. 3-point goals—Niagara 7-26 (Hodge 3-5, Lewis 2-10, Fisher 2-10, Nelson 1-0), ASU 9-16 (Abraham 4-6, Sims 2-3, Booth 2-3, Brand 1-2, Bermudez 0-2). Rebounds—Niagara 38 (Fisher, Egemonye 11), ASU 38 (Clayton 12). Assists—Niagara 9 (Nelson 6), ASU 8 (Minter 4). Turnovers—Niagara 11, ASU 23. Total fouls—Niagara 13, ASU 16. Fouled out—None. Technical fouls—None. A—2,103.