APPALACHIAN STATE 85, CHATTANOOGA 69
BOONE, N.C. -- D.J. Thompson posted team highs with 27 points, six rebounds and seven assists to lead Appalachian State University men’s basketball to its 20th victory of the season, an 85-69 rout over Chattanooga on Wednesday evening at the Holmes Center.
Appalachian (20-6, 12-3 SoCon), which never trailed in the easy victory, closed the first half on a 22-8 run to take a commanding 36-22 halftime lead. After Chattanooga (12-16, 5-11 SoCon) closed within 11 in the opening minute of the second period, ASU went on a 13-2 spurt to stretch its advantage to 22 and never led by less than 13 the rest of the way.
Thompson’s 27-point performance was his second-highest scoring effort of the season and his most points in 10-career games against the Mocs. The senior’s 10-of-20 shooting included a career-high seven three-pointers.
Nate Cranford, who scored a career-high 30 points the first time the two teams met this season, chipped in with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting (5-of-8 from three-point range). Demetrius Scott and Jeremy Clayton rounded out four Mountaineers in double-figures with 12 points apiece. Clayton added a career-best six assists.
Keddric Mays was the only Moc in double-figures with 27 points.
In addition to becoming just the 11th squad in school history to post 20 wins in a season, Appalachian also clinched a first-round bye in the upcoming Southern Conference Tournament.
Prior to resuming SoCon play next week, the Mountaineers will travel to Wichita, Kan. for a nationally televised ESPN BracketBusters showdown with 2006 Sweet Sixteen-participant Wichita State. The matchup between the Apps and the Missouri Valley Conference’s Shockers can be seen live on ESPNU Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. (EST).
UNC GREENSBORO 79, WESTERN CAROLINA 68
GREENSBORO, N.C. --- UNC Greensboro scored 20 of the first 27 points of the second half to pull away from Western Carolina in the second half for a 79-68 win in Southern Conference men’s basketball action at Fleming Gym on Wednesday night.
After leading by 18 midway through the second half, UNCG managed just one field goal over a six-minute span. But UNCG managed to make its free throws for the second-straight game. After going 35-for-45 at the line against Elon on Monday, the Spartans were 32-for-43 at the stripe on Wednesday.
Senior guard Ricky Hickman led the way for UNCG (14-12, 11-5 SoCon) with 19 points. The Winston-Salem, N.C. native became UNCG’s all-time leader in free throws with 397, breaking the mark of 395 set by Courtney Eldridge. He was 11-for-14 at the line on Wednesday after going 15-for-18 at the line on Monday.
Western Carolina (10-16, 7-8) got a double-double from freshman Nick Aldridge with 28 points and 11 rebounds. Arnold Gore added 14 points and seven rebounds. Brandon Giles chipped in with 11 points.
Playing without their leading scorer Kyle Hines, who was serving a mandatory one-game suspension for his ejection from Monday’s game against Elon, the Spartans had to find themselves early on. Playing the final 15 minutes of Monday night’s game without Hines was one thing. Playing 40 minutes without arguably the top player in the Southern Conference was going to be a little different.
But UNCG has as many field goal attempts as free throw attempts (43) and held Western Carolina to 37.7 percent shooting from the floor to earn the win and wrap up one of the coveted byes in the upcoming Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament. With two conference games remaining, UNCG can finish no worse than second in the SoCon North and can be seeded no lower than fifth in the tournament, which begins February 28 in North Charleston, SC.
“We wanted to push it on offense from the very start just like we did on Monday night against Elon,” said Hickman. “We got a little sloppy at times with the ball and had some turnovers, but that is probably a result of not having Kyle. At the same time, though, winning like this without him gives a lot of guys confidence. We’ve proven that we can win without him. We got a big lift from a lot of guys tonight.
“Coach has been in my ear about not settling for as many three-point looks and get back to driving to the basket to create some things,” said Hickman. “It worked well again tonight.”
UNCG also got 13 points each from junior Kevin Oleksiak and freshman Mikko Koivisto and 10 points from freshman Ben Stywall. Oleksiak, a native of Abington, PA, was in double figures for the fourth time in the last six games. It was Koivisto’s 11th game of 10 or more points this season.
After falling behind 7-2 to open the game, UNCG found a rhythm as it scored 10 straight points, capped off by a Ben Stywall dunk.
The Spartans opened the lead up to nine a couple of times, including a 32-23 lead midway through the first half. The pace slowed somewhat from there as the teams combined for just five points in the next three minutes, but UNCG held its first double-digit lead of the game at 35-25.
The Catamounts scored nine of the next 11 to pull to within three, 37-34, capped off by Arnold Gore?s three-pointer with 4:11 to play in the first half. In fact, UNCG went nearly nine minutes between baskets, but Kendall Toney’s three-pointer with 36 left before intermission helped secure a 44-41 Spartan lead at the break.
An 10-2 run to open the second half, including a pair of treys by Hickman, gave UNCG its largest to that point, 54-43, with 17 minutes to play.
UNCG opened the lead up to as much as 18 before Western Carolina made a move to get back in it. A 14-4 run by the Catamounts cut the margin back to single-digits, 72-64, with 4:30 to play.
The Catamounts had two chances to cut it to six, but could not capitalize from the foul line. With 2:49 to play, Aldridge missed a pair of free throws. The Spartans missed on their next possession, but Gore missed the front end of a one-and-one and UNCG went back to work on the clock. This time, Hickman dribbled around enough to get open for the driving lay-up to give UNCG a 10-point advantage and put away the victory.
UNCG will host UNC Wilmington in a BracketBusters series game on Saturday at Fleming Gym. The Spartans will salute five seniors prior to the 7 pm tip-off.