Western Carolina 80, Appalachian State 75
BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University men's basketball shot 60 percent from the field in the second half and Donald Sims racked up 30 points, but Western Carolina broke a 72-72 tie with eight of the game's final 11 points for an 80-75 win at the Holmes Center on Thursday.
Sims shot 9-of-15 from the field and sank four three-pointers, including three during an early second-half run. The senior was 8-of-10 from the free throw line, dished out a team-high three assists and swiped a pair of steals.
After hitting the game-winning jumper in last month's meeting in Cullowhee, Mike Williams again played well down the stretch to secure the Catamount win. The guard scored WCU's (14-13, 10-5 SoCon) final five points at the free throw line and swiped a crucial steal with a three-point lead and 10 seconds on the clock to seal WCU's first season sweep of the Mountaineers 2003-04.
Appalachian (12-14, 8-8) worked out of a four-point hole early in the second half to gain an eight-point advantage with 11 minutes to play. Just when the Apps were poised to put the game away, the Cats stole momentum back with a 13-point run to take a 58-63 lead with seven minutes on the clock.
Andre Williamson then scored 10 of the Apps' next 12 points as the home team regained a three-point advantage as late as 2:25 in regulation. The junior was 5-of-6 from the field and sank all six of his foul shots. Williamson added three rebounds and three blocked shots on the night.
In addition to Williams' late-game heroics and 20-point, eight assist outing, Western Carolina owned a 34-29 advantage on the glass and forced 20 Mountaineer turnovers, including 14 steals. The Catamounts converted those opportunities into 32 points.
Omar Carter posted a strong start, scoring 12 of ASU's first 20 points. The junior finished with 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds on 6-of-9 shooting.
ASU's hot second-half shooting (15-of-25) led to a final mark of 54 percent in the game, compared to 43.8 percent for the visitors. WCU sank 4-of-9 from downtown compared to 6-of-16 for the Apps.
Mitch Woods finished second on the team with four rebounds off the ASU bench. The freshman scored his only points on a layup in the final minutes of the contest to help bouy Appalachian's lead down the stretch.
Brandon Boggs hit Western Carolina's go-ahead three-pointer with 1:24 on the clock and matched Williams for the team lead with 20 points of his own. Boggs shot 8-of-14 from the field and grabbed five rebounds.
Two other Catamount starters reached double figures as Richie Gordon scored 19 points and Trey Sumler added 11. The game's 20 lead changes were the most ASU had seen this season.
College of Charleston 85, The Citadel 63
CHARLESTON, S.C. - Sophomore Willis Hall scored a career-high 21 points to lead five College of Charleston players in double figures in an 85-63 win over crosstown rival The Citadel on Thursday night at McAlister Fieldhouse.
The Cougars (20-7, 13-2) scored the game's first 17 points and never trailed on their way to their fifth-straight win and the ninth in the last 10 games.
Senior Donavan Monroe added 16 points, while senior Andrew Goudelock and junior Antwaine Wiggins had 15 each. Freshman Trent Wiedeman had 10 points as the Cougars shot 58.3 percent from the field (35-of-60) behind Hall's perfect 8-for-8 performance.
The Bulldogs cut the Charleston lead down to five in the second half on an Austin Dahn three-pointer, 55-50, with 13:36 remaining in regulation, but the Cougars countered with a Wiggins steal for the dunk and a three by sophomore Andrew Lawrence to the put the team back up by 12 and sparked a 20-5 run.
Austin Dahn led the Bulldogs with 19 points while Cameron Wells added 16 for The Citadel. Mike Groselle recorded a double-double as he scored 10 points and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds in the loss.
CofC turned the ball over a season-low tying four times and got 23 points off 11 Citadel turnovers and scored 40 of its 85 points in the paint.