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| Appalachian defeats
Bulldogs after second half recovery |
Allie
Woods
Sports Minor Beat |
Despite not getting off a shot in the first two minutes and
playing a style of game not typical to Appalachian State University
wins, the Mountaineers pulled out a first round victory over The
Citadel during the Southern Conference Tournament.
The Mountaineers finished the regular season in the top five in
the nation in scoring with Shawn Hall averaging over 20 points a
game. Despite this, ASU could only manage 27 points in the first
half, and Hall was held to only three points.
Nate Carson, Hall and Jonathan Mitchell all experienced foul trouble
in the first half with Hall and Carson playing only 11 minutes and
Mitchell seeing the floor for only two minutes.
Along with the foul trouble, the Mountaineers also had trouble holding
on to the ball with 12 turnovers in the first half.
“Our kids found a way to survive and advance,” head coach
Houston Fancher said. “It wasn’t very pretty, not a hall
of fame performance, but they competed hard and made plays down
the stretch.”
The first half saw ASU not able to get any sort of offensive rhythm,
turning the ball over and not playing well overall. The shining
light of the first half was the play of Chris McFarland. McFarland
had 12 points and played the most inspired game of the first half
for the Mountaineers.
“Chris is long and athletic, and we really made it a point
to get him to crash the boards,” Graham Bunn said. “We
needed him to play well for our team to win. We’re proud of
him and hope he continues to play that way.”
“Chris is the sort of guy that can get lost in the shuffle
a bit,” Fancher said. “People talk about having to guard
[Bunn and Hall] all year, and Chris has been able to take advantage
all year.”
The second half was a polar opposite from the first. It featured
Hall pulling up and hitting three pointers, Nate Carson getting
rebounds and put backs and McFarland and Shehan dunking to get a
roar from the crowd.
Despite the inspired play by the Mountaineers, the Bulldogs would
not go away. The Citadel was led by senior Clyde Wormley, who seemed
to have an answer for almost every ASU run. Wormley finished with
21 points and eight rebounds.
Hall filled up the stat sheet in the second half with 17 points
that included several three-pointers and a few up and under layups
that were play-of-the-day material.
“I was a little nervous and came out pushing the issue, and
at half time coach got into us a little,” Hall said. “My
teammates helped me to get open, and I started taking good shots.
Every shot wasn’t good, but they were better than the first
half, more open looks.”
Carson also finished with a strong game after some early foul trouble,
tallying 11 points and 10 rebounds.
“Nate Carson played extremely well, another double-double tonight,”
Fancher said. “An unsung guy for us [he] has been all year
long.”
The Mountaineers moved on to play the University of Tennessee at
Chattanooga on Thursday night.
“People might look at us and say, you need to go on home and
be satisfied with what you have done,” Fancher said. “But
these kids have too much heart to quit now, too much character to
stop, and [their] constitution is unbelievable. We have 10 guys
in that locker room that don’t want to go home yet.” |
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