by ROB JENKINS
Sports Reporter

The Appalachian State University men’s basketball team dropped a hard-fought overtime loss to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Jan. 15, 78-74.

The Mountaineers look to avenge that loss tonight at 7 p.m. as they meet the Mocs at the Holmes Convocation Center.

In the Mountaineers’ last game, they fell in a non-conference matchup against Winthrop University 65-63.

Appalachian was led by Donald Sims’ 18 points, but was hurt by what seemed to be an off-game from leading scorer Kellen Brand.

Appalachian State University men’s basketball guard Kellen Brand works around The Citadel defense Thursday, Feb. 5 in the 74-72 loss. Photo by Alisha Park.

Brand, who is averaging 14.7 points per game, struggled against the Eagles, totaling only 4 points on 1-6 shooting.

Despite the loss, the team’s seventh of the season by 5 points or less, head coach Houston Fancher remains optimistic about his team’s effort.

“They have not quit playing hard,” Fancher said. “They continue to put themselves in a position to be in close games. Hopefully as this winds down and we get toward the tournament, there won’t be a close situation we haven’t encountered.”

In the first game against Chattanooga, Appalachian trailed by as many as nine points with four minutes left in the game before closing the game on a 13-4 run to send it into overtime.

In the overtime period, the Mountaineers missed a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left that would have tied the game.

The Mocs rebounded the ball and hit one of two free throws to put the finishing touch on the 78-74 win.

Fancher pointed to the aid Chattanooga’s experience gave them in the game.

“They are very experienced, which is an advantage they had over us. They start five seniors,” Fancher said.

Brand also praised the Mocs’ cohesion as a team and said it is an area in which the Mountaineers are also improving.

“The thing I like about [Chattanooga] is they all play together and they know what each other is going to do,” Brand said. “That’s something we are getting better at.”

To pull out the win, the Mountaineers will need to continue to rebound well.

Appalachian is ranked 20th in the NCAA in team rebounds per game with 39.6.

The Mountaineers outrebound their opponents by 7.4 boards per game, good enough to tie them for 10th nationally with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The Mountaineers must also key on stopping Stephen McDowell.

McDowell is the second leading-scorer in the Southern Conference at 18.8 points per game and is fourth in the conference shooting 42.3 percent from three.

“We’ve got to really get into him. We can’t let him get open looks or come off screens and shoot [3-pointers],” sophomore center Isaac Butts said. “Our post guys, we really got to get out there, show, and help when he comes off those screens.”

Brand believes the Mountaineers will be successful if they play a high-energy game.

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