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Jeyhoun Allebaugh | The Appalachian
ASU's Demetrius Scott penetrates Furman's defense during the 60-47 win over the Paladins Monday night. The win was their sixth straight, and put the team in a tie for first in the North Division. |
Men's basketball tied for first in north
by Chris Zaluski
Staff Writer
The train that is the Appalachian State men’s basketball team continues to keep rolling.
In their most recent 60-47 win over the Furman University Paladins last night, the Mountaineers showed opponents that they have more to fear that just their three-point ability.
Making only seven three-pointers during the game, ASU relied on a fast-paced defense and aggressive rebounding to get them the win.
Appalachian also received help from post players Clint Deas and Derek Thomas, who had a combined 20 rebounds. Deas also had three blocks, all of which came in the first minutes of the game.
Head coach Houston Fancher said he believes the win prepares the team for the upcoming Southern Conference Tournament and also gets them ready to play in their final two road games of the year.
“We’re really sharing the ball, we’re not playing selfish, and we’re playing good defense,” Fancher said. “ We just keep getting better.”
In the first half of the game, ASU had to rely on those talents since their early shot attempts were not falling.
Furman took an early lead of 13-3 before the momentum of a Jeremy Clayton block began to turn the game around.
A Corwin Davis three point play gave ASU the lead with 1:19 remaining in the first half.
In an effort to win back some momentum before the halftime break, Furman’s George Brozos went to the free throw line to shoot two with 0:00 left on the clock.
The plan backfired as Brozos bricked both attempts while the Appalachian fans turned up the volume.
ASU went into the locker room leading 27-23 and didn’t look back.
In the beginning of the second half both teams went back and forth trading baskets. It wasn’t until a Noah Brown three-pointer with 9:47 minutes remaining that the Mountaineers began to pull away.
It was, yet again, ASU’s ability to play tough defense and get offensive rebounds that led them in the second half surge.
With 1:30 seconds left on the clock, Appalachian’s Clayton and Thomas destroyed all hope of a late game Paladin comeback.
Clayton blocked a Furman lay-up off the glass and pushed the ball up the court for a monstrous alley-opp by Thomas.
The Mountaineer’s momentum was too much to handle for the Paladins as they won by 13.
In the win, Appalachia’s defense caused Furman to shoot only 36 percent from the field, 11 percent less than their season average.
Appalachian also took advantage of free throw attempts as they went 13-19 while the Paladins went 0-3.
Furman head coach Larry Davis believes that these were all factors that contributed to the loss.
“We didn’t shoot the ball well enough or rebound densively well enough, especially in the second half, to deserve to win that game,” Davis said.
Although it was the tough defensive play that led to the win, Appalachian’s top scorer on the night was Noah Brown, with 14, followed by Davis and Thomas, both with 13.
This win secures the Mountaineer’s first place standing, as they are currently tied with the University of Chattanooga.
This wins makes is the sixth straight for the Mountaineers.
This momentum is quite impressive for a team who was orginally picked to finish fifth in the SoCon preseason polls and also have no preseason All-SoCon team members.
ASU’s next game is against the Longwood University Lancers Wednesday at home where they will try to continue their win streak to seven games.
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Trey Allman | The Appalachian
ASU's Nate Cranford had 23 points, tying his career high, during the win against UT-Chattanooga Saturday, 83-61. |
Men's basketball shoot down Mocs, 83-61
by Hugh Kellenberger
Associate Editor
On a day when Appalachian State University honored their basketball past, the current group took one more step toward the future.
The Mountaineers earned a tie for first-place in the North Division after thoroughly dominating the Chattanooga Mocs 83-61 in front of a season-high crowd Saturday.
Once again, Nathan Cranford and D.J. Thompson led the charge for the Mountaineers, who have won seven of their last eight games.
Cranford tied a career-high with 23 points, including six three-pointers.
Led by Cranford, the team established a new school record for three-pointers in a game with 16.
Thompson was held to 10 points, but dished out five assists and came up with seven steals.
“There is no way to describe how well he plays defense, with his quickness and his hands; he never stops,” Cranford said.
Thompson and the ASU full-court press resulted in 26 Chattanooga turnovers, including eight from point guard Jerice Crouch in 20 minutes.
Crouch was forced to play extended minutes after starting guard Casey Long earned two personal fouls in the first three minutes.
In a first-half stretch, the Mountaineers stole the ball on five straight Mocs possessions.
“The only stat that mattered to me was the number one, because they played as one tonight,” ASU coach Houston Fancher said.
Chattanooga was able to cut the lead down to seven with 8:00 left in the game, but ASU simply turned the energy up another notch.
In just a shade over five minutes, the Mountaineers scored 22 points and let the Mocs have just a Chris Brown jumper to go on a 22-2 run.
Derek Thomas and Corwin Davis put in six points a piece during the stretch, as did Noah Brown with a pair of three-pointers.
This match-up showed two teams headed in completely opposite directions but both in control of their own destinies.
Chattanooga has lost four of their last six (after a 82-64 win over UNC-Greensboro Monday), slipping from a solid perch atop the North Division to discussing the team’s future without a bye in the first round of the Southern Conference tournament.
“We want the bye; if we don’t get it that’s fine,” Long said. “If we don’t get the bye, you still have a chance to win the conference tournament. That doesn’t kill our season.”
Both teams play a drastically similar schedule the rest of the way. Both will play Furman, Western Carolina and UNC- Greensboro. Chattanooga must also play at East Tennessee State, while Appalachian goes to Elon for the last regular season game.
“Appalachian is deserving of a three-way tie,” Chattanooga coach John Shulman said. “We don’t deserve to be in first place. Appalachian is going in a way different direction than we’re going.”
Chris McFarland did not play for the first time in his four-year career. The small forward, a Mountaineer Maniac favorite, has seen his role diminish significantly since Cranford moved into the starting line-up.
TO TOP
Sports in Brief
by Erik Rhyne
Intern Writer
Track & Field
Appalachian State’s track and field shined bright at the Twilight Invitational hosted by Clemson University Saturday. The team rounded up 18 top-five finishers.
Bryan Burney led the way for the Mountaineers by winning the 400-meter dash in a time of 49.12 seconds.
Brittani Williams and Anthony Greer each earned second-place finishes for the shot put.
The team hosts a mid-week running only even Feb. 17 in the final tune up before the Southern Conference Championships Feb. 25-26 in Johnson City.
Baseball
The ASU baseball team headed off the mountain last weekend for a series against Gardner-Webb University.
ASU lost the two game series by scores of 18-1 and 5-3.
In the second game, Brad Peisel was one of the lone bright spots of the weekend. He went 4-5 with 2 RBIs.
The Mountaineers are now 1-2 overall, with the win coming against North Carolina A &T Feb. 9. ASU will head down the mountain tomorrow to Chapel Hill to face national-power North Carolina.
Softball
Winthrop University scored four runs in the last two innings to break a close game wide open and finished off the ASU softball team 5-1 Sunday in the final game of the Georgia Softball classic.
Natalie Willis scored the only run for the Mountaineers with a RBI-single in the fifth inning.
The softball team, now 3-7 overall, returns to action next Saturday in Conway, S.C., against Coastal Carolina.
Wrestling
The Appalachian wrestling team tied The Citadel, 21-21 Thursday at Varsity Gymnasium.
Senior Reubon Daniels finished a perfect 5-0 campaign in the Southern Conference by defeating Billy Linane, 3-2. Other winners for the wrestling team were: Neil Martin, Ajay Foreman, Sean McIntosh and Rockey Richey.
With the tie, ASU moved to a 6-9-1 overall with a 1-2-1 record in the Southern Conference. The team will compete in its final road contest of the season Feb. 17 when ASU travels to Jefferson City, Tenn., to battle Carson Newman.
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