Tag Archives: 2012

Appalachian State Women’s Basketball: Appalachian vs. Furman 2/20/2012 Postgame and SoCon Seeding Scenarios

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The Lady Mountaineers jumped out to a quick 21 point lead early in the first half and never really looked back on a night where Appalachian honored four seniors. Both teams shot above 47% but the difference was Appalachian making ten more field goals than the Paladins in an 85-70 victory. Appalachian forced 28 turnovers with 20 of them being steals. Appalachian also recorded ten blocked shots on the evening. “TC” Weldon scored twenty points, grabbed five rebounds and dished six assists in her career finale in the Holmes Center. Maryah Sydnor added 18 points and four rebounds while Anna Freeman scored 10 points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked six Paladin shots. Raven Gary added a career high 12 points.

A scary moment occured late in the first half when Courtney Freeman had her legs taken out from under her and landed hard on the court. Freeman was holding the back of her head, right where she had her back in a ponytail. Freeman walked off the court under her own power, but did not return to the game.

SoCon Standings

Davidson        16-2        @ Chattanooga, @ Samford

App State        16-2        @Samford, @Chattanooga

Chattanooga     14-3     @Samford, Davidson, Appalachian

Samford         11-6          Chattanooga, Appalachian, Davidson

I dont know if I have ever seen anything like this. In the fight for the third seed, if Samford ran the table, and Chattanooga lost the rest of their games, the teams would be tied with a conference recored of 14-6. In that situation, Samford and Chattanooga would have 1-1 records against Davidson and Appalachian. The tie would be broken by going to current fifth place team Elon, and Chattanooga would win the tie breaker by sweeping the Phoenix, while Samford split with the Paladins. If Furman were to grab the fifth seed, which is possible, Samford would win the tiebreaker with a sweep, while Chattanooga only beat the Paladins once. Althought the loss Samford suffered tonight to Western Carolina seems detrimental, they are still not technically out of the running for the third seed. All of the tiebreakers would become irrelevant if Chattanooga were to beat Samford on Wednesday. In that case, Samford is locked into the 4 seed, and Chattanooga would stay alive for the 1 seed, but face Appalachian and Davidson in the final two games of the regular season. In the event of a three way tie at the top, with Chattanooga winning out and Davidson and Appalachin both beating Samford, Davidson would win the tiebreaker with the better record against the tied schools. In that case Appalachian would earn the 2 seed with a sweep over Furman, whether they finished fifth or sixth, while Chattanooga lost to Furman. As was mentioned earlier, this race will become much clearer, or muddier, depending on Wednesday’s game between Samford and Chattanooga.

Appalachian State Basketball: Appalachian vs. Winthrop 2/18/2012 Postgame and SoCon North Roundup

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Appalachian got big games from two of its seniors as they knocked off Winthrop as part of the ESNPU BracketBusters. Ike Butts scored 15 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and Omar Carter scored 15 points and added six rebounds himself. Nathan Healy and Tab Hamilton chipped in 13 points a piece.

Around the conference, Elon dropped an overtime game at home to Western Carolina and Samford held off Furman down the stretch to create a four team log jam in the North division. Two games separate second through fifth place in the standings, and there is a possibility that we could see a four-way tie before the season is over with. Elon faces the two teams that lead their respective divisions. Samford has two road games remaining. Appalachian also faces two games on the road, while Western Carolina’s remaining schedule features two home games. If Elon and Samford lose their remaining games, they finish 8-10. Appalachian could split its two games, while Western Carolina wins their two games, and we would be stuck with a four way tie. The tie is broken by the teams records against all of the tied teams. Elon would be 2-4. Samford 3-3. Appalachian 3-3. Western Carolina 4-2. It is hard to believe that Western Carolina could jump from fifth to second in a matter of days.

 

UNCG         10-6    Woff, @Elon  (Clinched top 2 seed)

Elon             8-8      @Dav, UNCG

Samford       8-8     @WCU, @UTC

App St          7-9     @Cit, @WCU

WCU             6-10   Sam, App St

Appalachian State Basketball: Appalachian @ The Citadel 2/22/2012

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2/19/2012

I believe Appalachian will be favored in this game by 3 points. The Bulldogs have not been favored all season long, and have not played a team with a likeness of Appalachian at home in a couple weeks. The Bulldogs had lost 11 in a row before winning on the road in Chattanooga on Saturday. The Citadel is 5-2 at home this season ATS versus conference opponents, with those covers coming against Davidson, Georgia Southern, Wofford, Greensboro and Samford. Their losses are to Elon and Furman. Appalachian is 3-4 ATS on the road this season against the SoCon. Their wins were over Furman, Samford and Chattanooga.

02/22/2012

I was a little off here, but still very close to nailing the spread. Appalachian opened as four point favorites. In the last week or so, the lines in Appalachian games have moved around a bit. I could see this sneaking up to the 4.5 to 5 point range. The Citadel is not a good team, but they got off the snide with their win at Chattanooga. I like the even number here because it brings a push into play. One website posts that 64% of the action is heading Appalachian’s direction. I like the Mountaineers as well. They should dominate in the rebounding category. The Citadel is last in the conference in rebounding margin, and just gave up over twenty offensive rebounds to Western Carolina last week, and thirteen to Chattanooga on Saturday. That should lead to plenty easy buckets on the offensive end for the Mountaineers.

Postgame:

The Mountaineers were able to dictate their pace for the first eight minutes of the ball game before The Citadel took control of the tempo and cruised to a 62-51 win. Appalachian was crushed on the boards, and shot terribly from behind the arc. The loss moves my record to 10-13 on the season.

Appalachian State Women’s Basketball: Appalachian @ Davidson 2/18/2012 Postgame & Appalachian vs. Furman 2/20/2012 Pregame

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Appalachian suffered it’s most detrimental loss on the season on Saturday. The Apps shot 33% from the field for the game, and only attempted eight free throws. The Mountaineers shot 24 times more than the Wildcats and were called for 19 fouls to only eight for Davidson. Maryah Sydnor notched a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Chakeitha Weldon scored 6 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and added 4 steals in the losing effort.

Davidson now sits in the catbird seat by tying Appalachian with a 15-2 record in the SoCon North, but Davidson currently holds the tiebreaker with the season sweep over the Mountaineers. Both teams face Samford and Chattanooga on the road in the season’s final weekend, and both teams host games on Monday Night. Davidson other two losses on the season came to teams they have to play a second time, Wofford and Samford.

SoCon Standings

Davidson        15-2        Wofford, @ Chattanooga, @ Samford

App State        15-2        Furman, @Samford, @Chattanooga

Chattanooga     14-3     @Samford, Davidson, Appalachian

Samford         11-5        @WCU, Chattanooga, Appalachian, Davidson

 

In order for Appalachian to win the 1 seed for the tournament, they must finish a game in front of Davidson. Both Appalachian and Davidson are guaranteed to finish in the top 3 of the conference. Chattanooga still has the opportunity to win the championship, or finish fourth, and could create a three way tie if they were to win out. At this point, working out a three way tiebreaker has endless possibilities with each team in the top 4 playing each other at least twice.

Appalachian State Baseball: Appalachian vs. Akron DH 2/18/2012(Elon Tournament)

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Sr. RHP Ryan Arrowood (8-3, 2.96) will start Game 1 against the Zips.

Arrowood was on a pitch count, and went a solid 4 innings, giving up 3 hits and 2 earned runs. Despite three walks, he was able to strikeout six batters, but did not factor into the decision. Tyler Moore (1-1) picked up the win with 2.1 innings pitched, allowing only one hit.

Appalachian’s eight runs were scored by eight different players. The Mountianeers stranded 10 runners on the day. Daniel Kassouf and Trey Holmes led the Mountaineer bats with two hits each. Kassouf (.333, 5RBI) hit his first homerun of the season. Defensively, 19 of the 27 outs were recorded by the catcher or the first baseman.

Jr. LHP Rob Marcello (Transfer) will start Game 2 against the Zips.

Marcello (1-0) pitched 5 innings allowing only 2 hits and striking out five batters, while the Mountaineer pitching staff scattered 5 hits over nine innings. Nathan Hyatt secured the save in the ninth inning. For the third game this season, the Mountaineers struck out 10 batters as a team. Catcher Jeremy Dowdy sat the second game with Tyler Tewell catching, and Alex Leach playing in right field for Tewell.

Shortstop Will Callaway (.400) picked up two of the Mountaineers seven hits, and also added a run and an RBI. Callaway also had two errors while in the field, but picked up his third steal of the season. Appalachian moves to 2-1 on the season.

Appalachian State Baseball: Appalachian vs George Mason 2/17/2012 (Elon Tournament)

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Senior RHP Seth Grant (5-9, 5.28) will start against the Patriots.

Appalachian is the away team in today’s game.

Lineup

Crespo – K;F9;1B;G1; :1-4

Troutman – F7;1B;F6;K; :1-4

Callaway – 1B,SB;FC;1B,SB;G5; :2-4

Kassouf – K;K;1B,RBI;K; :1-4

Tewell – 1B;F8;FC;K; :1-4

Dowdy – BB;F8;FC;1B; :1-3

Holmes – K;FO;FO;GIDP :0-4

Briggs – K;F8;G5; :0-3

Zupcic – K;F4;G5; :0-3

P- Grant – 6 IP, 8 K, 3 H, 0 ER, 4 FO, 6 GO, ND

P- Wilson – 2 IP, 2 K, 2 H, 1 ER, FO, 3 GO: Loss (0-1)

George Mason wins 2-1

Appalachian is 0-1 on the season

Appalachian State Basketball: Appalachian vs. Chattanooga 2/15/2012 Postgame

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Appalachian played a very smart game and rolled to an easier than it appears nine point win over Chattanooga. Mike Neal had a career high with 23 points, while Isaac Butts chipped in six points and grabbed a season high 16 rebounds. As big as the win was, it was almost equally important the losses Elon and Samford suffered on Wednesday Night. Appalachian gained a full game on the standings on both teams and really tightened up the race for the second seed in the conference tournament. Listed below are the teams records and remaining conference games.

UNCG         10-5   @GSU, Woff, @Elon  Clinched top 2 seed

Elon             8-7     WCU, @Dav, UNCG

Samford       7-8     Furman, @WCU, @UTC

App St          7-9     @Cit, @WCU

Obviously, Appalachian needs to get to 9-9 in conference play. The Mountaineers cannot afford another conference loss, because Elon already has 8 wins. Elon’s chances of getting to 9-9 are pretty high with a home game against Western Carolina, but getting a tenth conference win is unlikely with games at Davidson and home to UNCG. Samford will probably get a 8th win among their remaining games, but a lengthy road trip on the final weekend of the season could create trouble. Appalachian has the easiest remaining schedule of the three teams still fighting for a bye. If there were a three way tiebreaker, Appalachian would lose, but if Appalachian tied with either Samford or Elon, the Mountaineers would win and get the bye in both scenarios. Unfortunately, Appalachian does not control its own destiny as this point in time and will have to scoreboard watch this Saturday to know their fate.

Appalachian State Basketball: Appalachian vs. Winthrop 2/18/2012

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2/16/2012

I would be surprised if there was a line for this game at all. Winthrop has only been lined three times this season and they are 1-2 against the spread. They have had almost their entire schedule either being a PK or NL. However, if there is one, I would expect Appalachian to be favored by close to 10 points.

2/19/2012

For the first time all season we had some big movements to the line for the Winthrop game. The game opened with the Mountaineers being favored by 6 points. Two hours later, which was about an hour before tipoff, the line moved on some sites to as low 4 points. I liked the spread of six, and still felt the same way when the line droppped. It was obvious early in the game that Winthrop could not contain Ike Butts, who scored 15 points and snagged 15 rebounds. Winthrop was long and lean and that frusturated the Mountaineers into some second half mistakes and kept the game fairly close down the stretch. Appalachian led by as many as 16 points in the first half, but allowed Winthrop to take a two point lead in the second frame. Appalachian eventually won 76-64, so the spread did not come into play. My record on the season improved to 10-12 with two games remaining in the regular season.

Appalachian State Basketball: Appalachian vs. Chattanooga 2/15/2012

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In terms of conference tournament seeding, this game is as big as it gets for Appalachian. Chattanooga has already been eliminated from bye contention, while Appalachian needs a win tonight to keep their slim hopes alive. A Mountaineer loss assures a game on the tournament’s first day. Along with Appalachian needing a win, the teams they are chasing, Elon and Samford face tough games this evening on the road. Samford travels to SoCon South leader Davidson where they are a 17.5 point underdog, while Elon visits Wofford, who is favored by nine points. Elon losing is as important to the Mountaineers as winning themselves tonight.

Appalachian held a double digit lead in the second half at Chattanooga earlier this season but allowed the Mocs to slowly climb back into the game before a key possession by the Mountaineers with under a minute to go allowed the Mocs to score the go ahead basket.

Appalachian State Women’s Basketball: Appalachian vs. Elon 2/13/2012 Postgame & Appalachian @ Davidson 2/18/2012 Pregame

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Appalachian darted out to a 13-0 lead to start the game and never looked back in a 84-68 win over Elon on Monday evening. Elon did not score until well past the first media timeout (first dead ball after the 16:00 minute mark) and could not catch up with the Mountaineers, who won their tenth straight game. Appalachian’s Maryah Sydnor was one point short of matching her career high in points as she finished with 19 points and 8 rebounds. Anna Freeman scored 13 points with 5 rebounds, 5 steals, 4 assists and 4 blocks.

The best teams in the SoCon continued to win with a minor upset in Greenville, SC. Western Carolina led by as many as 14 points before Furman stormed back to force overtime. Western Carolina prevailed in the extra session. Second place Davidson travelled to last place UNCG on Tuesday and squeaked out a nine point win over the Spartans. Davidson led by 18 at the half, but only managed twenty points in the second frame.

SoCon standings are basically unchanged with a huge game going down on Saturday afternoon in Davidson . Appalachian hopes to get revenge for their only conference loss on the season when they visit the Wildcats. It is an absolutely big game for both teams. Factoring in the loss Appalachian suffered at the hands of Davidson in Januaray, the standings basically say that the regular season title could be decided with this result. Appalachian leads Davidson by one game in the standings, and Chattanooga by two games. If Appalachian wins, it will go up by two games over the second place team, with only three games to play. However, if Davidson wins, they tie Appalachian in the standings and own the tiebreaker with two wins over the Mountaineers. All in all, Appalachian controls its own destiny with a win, and would need help  to win the regular season title if they were to lose.