Tag Archives: Elon

Updated SoCon North Standings 2/23/2012

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So what has changed in a day? Everything. As expected, Elon lost big on the road at Davidson. Western led by double digits in the first half over Samford, but the Bulldogs made a late push before falling by two points on the road. UNC-Greensboro has locked the North Division championship with the Elon and Samford losses. Greensboro’s game against Elon on Saturday means nothing to them, but plenty for the Phoenix. With a win and a Samford loss, Elon clinches the two seed. If Elon and Samford tie at 9-9, the 2 seed goes to Samford, with two head to head wins over Elon. If they tie at 8-10, it brings the winner of Appalachian and Western Carolina into play. A three way tie with Appalachian gives Samford the two seed, Appalachian the three seed and Elon the four seed via head to head games against the three schools. Appalachian split those four games, while Elon was 1-3 and Samford was 3-1. If there is a three way tie between Elon, Samford and Western Carolina, the four seed goes to Elon with a 1-3 record against the tied schools. Samford is 2-2, getting swept by Western Carolina, and in turn sweeping Elon. Western would be 3-1 against the tied schools and grab the two seed. In short, these four teams can be in any of three seeding spots, and in some cases four, depending on the results on Saturday afternoon.

Getting the two seed is critical and only Samford controls their own destiny with a win. What is the big difference between the third, fourth and fifth seeds? The third seed in the North plays The Citadel in the first round of the tournament. The fourth seed plays the fifth from the South and the fifth seed plays the fourth in the South, which will either be Charleston or Furman, who are currently tied at 8-9. Charleston is most likely to take the four seed, with a game against Citadel on the road, which is really a couple miles up the street, while Furman travels 30 minutes up the road to Spartanburg. If Furman and Charleston stay tied after Saturday, Charleston gets the four seed since they beat South Division champion Davidson while Furman lost to the Wilcats twice.

SoCon North Standings

UNCG      10-7       @Elon

Elon             8-9        UNCG

Samford       8-9      @UTC

App St          7-10     @WCU

WCU             7-10      App St

Appalachian State Basketball: Appalachian @ The Citadel Postgame & Updated SoCon North Standings

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It is really tough to describe the emotion any Appalachian basketball fan must have after learning about the loss to The Citadel last night. The Bulldogs won for the sixth time last night. It was their third conference win of the season and only fourth win over a Division I team. The Mountaineers shot themselves in the foot last night. Take away Nathan Healy, who had 19 points and hit three of his six three point attempts, and the Mountaineers were 0-19 from behind the arc. The Mountaineers were 17-34 from two point range, but continued to settle for the lower percentage shots. In contrast, The Citadel only shot the ball thirty eight times from the field, but benefited from shooting 21-28 from the free throw line. Appalachian only attempted eleven free throws. The Citadel was one of the worst rebounding teams in the conference but still managed to dominate the Mountaineers on the boards, 36-26. Andre Williamson  managed ten points and fourteen of the teams twenty six rebounds coming off the bench.

Appalachian can still tie for second in the North, but it will do them no good. In the event of a three way tie, Samford would win it and leave Appalachian in the third spot, which would mean playing The Citadel again in the first round. Appalachian could win on Saturday and guarantee no worse than fourth in the North. A loss to Western Carolina would put the Mountaineers in a very precarious situation. If Western can beat Samford tonight, coupled, with beating Appalachian on Saturday, Western would vault to fourth place, dropping Appalachian to fifth place by themselves. If Western and Appalachian were to tie at 7-11, the tiebreaker would go to the fourth and final SoCon tiebreaking procedure, which is the higher ratings published by RPIratings.com. As of February 19th, Appalachian holds that tiebreaker by a very slim margin, but that could change. The final comparison will basically be between The Citadel and Samford, the teams final uncommon opponents.

RPIratings.com

W/L      SS   Rank    RPI

244. Appalachian St.      10  15  .4759 207  .4537

252. Western Carolina    10  17  .4519 264  .4503

 

There is a school that will receive the 2 seed bye in the tournament, but they will not deserve it, no matter who they are. Elon spent most of the first half  of the conference season in first place but has since floundered, losing four in a row. Appalachian has not won three games in a row all season long, which eventually led to their demise. Samford sits in the best position at 8-8, but has two road games remaining.

SoCon North Standings

UNCG      10-7       @Elon

Elon             8-8      @Dav, UNCG

Samford       8-8     @WCU, @UTC

App St          7-10     @WCU

WCU             6-10   Sam, App St

Appalachian State Women’s Basketball: 2/22/12 Updated SoCon Standings

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Samford snagged a huge home win over third place Chattanooga that keeps them alive for bye contention going into the conference tournament. From everything that I can see, this officially locks Appalachian and Davidson into the top two seeds in the tournament. Chattanooga can create a two way tie with either Davidson or Appalachian, or a three way tie with both teams, but would lose the tiebreaker in every scenario. Besides the loss the Mocs suffered on the court, the also lost ground in a potential tiebreaker scenario as well. Furman scored a nineteen point win on the road over Wofford which now gives them a 9-9 record in conference play, which is one game behind fifth place Elon, who is 10-8. Furman plays two winnable games as do the Phoenix, but Western Carolina is coming on strong late in the season and could give the Phoenix some trouble. Samford is hoping to tie Chattanooga in the standings and have Furman vault to fifth place in conference to grab the third seed.

Davidson        16-2        @ Chattanooga, @ Samford

App State        16-2        @Samford, @Chattanooga

Chattanooga     14-4      Davidson, Appalachian

Samford         12-6           Appalachian, Davidson

Elon                10-8          Wofford, Western Carolina

Furman          9-9            Charleston, Ga. Southern

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 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 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.

Appalachian State Basketball: Appalachian vs. Wofford 2/11/2012 Postgame and Appalachian vs. Chattanooga 2/15/2012 Pregame

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Appalachian lost to Wofford 66-64 on a cold and snowy Saturday in Boone. With the loss, Appalachian has been eliminated from winning the SoCon North Division. However, all is not lost on the season. The second seed in the SoCon Tournament is still up for grabs, but the Mountaineers must win and get some help from Samford and Elon. Applachian hosts Chattanooga on Wednesday while Elon and Samford but have tough tests on the road. Chattanooga still has not won a road game this season. Appalachian lost a heartbreaker to Chattanooga in January with the Mocs hitting a late layup after costly possession by Appalachian where Omar Carter shot too early in the shot clock. The game clock and shot clock were almost synced while Carter shot a long three pointer with 9 seconds left on the shot clock. The rebound was long and Chattanooga picked up the ball and sprinted the distance for the go ahead layup. A very similar scenraio nearly played out this past Saturday as the Mountaineers had a baseline inbound with just over four seconds remaining in the game. Carter received the inbound and immediately took an off balalanced shot that fell short.

SoCon North Standings

UNCG          9-5

Elon          8-6

Samford         7-7

App St          6-9

UTC          4-10

WCU         4-10

Appalachian State Women’s Basketball: Appalachian State vs. Elon 2/13/2012

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02/13/2012

Appalachin cruised to a nineteen point victory over the UNC-Greensboro on Saturday afternoon in front of 952 fans at the Holmes Convocation Center. The win gave Appalachian its third twenty win season in as many years. Nothing else really changed around the conference as teams who were expected to win did which is keeping the conference race very tight with two weeks remaining in the regular season. The top six teams have separated themselves from the rest of the pack, and Appalachian’s schedule down the stretch is as tough as it gets. Appalachian hosts sixth place Elon tonight, with road games at third place Chattanooga, second place Davidson and fourth place Samford on the horizon.Sandwiched between those games is a home game against fifth place Furman. So, yes you read that correctly. Appalachian will face teams second through sixth place in the SoCon in the next five games. A top three seed in the SoCon tournament seems to be a lock with 4.5 games separating Appalchian and Samford.

Appalachin went on the road and defeated Elon five weeks ago, 72-58. The Mountaineers had a twenty four point lead on three occasions in the game before Elon mounted a second half comeback. Elon pulled with five points early in the second half, but the Mountaineers put the Phoenix away with a late run. With a win tonight, Appalachian guarantees itself a top three seed in the SoCon tournament.

SoCon Standings

Appalachian         15-1

Davidson                13-2

UTC                           12-3

Samford                   9-5

Furman                    8-6

Elon                           8-7

 

Appalachian State Basketball: Appalachian vs. Wofford 2/11/2012 Pre-Game

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Previously on a six game win streak, Wofford has now lost three games in a row, while Appalachian broke their own three game losing streak with a road win at Furman. In addition to the Appalachian win, league leading Elon lost on the road to SoCon North celler dweller Chattanooga. UNC-Greensboro also came back on the road to defeat Samford. That puts UNCG and Elon in a tie for the SoCon North lead at 8-5 while Samford is 2 games back in third and Appalachian is 2.5 games back in fourth place. This brings up a critical game on the schedule tomorrow afternoon when Wofford comes to to Boone.

Appalachian was led by GJ Vilarino’s career high 13 points and 9 rebounds while Mike Neal also contributed a career high with 18 points and 5 rebounds. Neal was 12/14 from the free throw line while Omar Carter chipped in 8 points and 7 rebounds. Ike Butts, Nathan Healy and Andre Williamson all fouled out for the Mountaineers.

During the three game losing streak for Wofford, they lost control of second place in the SoCon South, while Georgia Southern has vaulted to 10-4 in conference play with a two game lead over the Terriers. Elon visits Samford tomorrow while UNCG hosts Chattanooga.

 

SOCON North Standings

Elon           8-5

UNCG       8-5

Samford    6-7

App St        6-8

UTC            4-9

WCU           4-9

02/13/2012

Appalachian State Basketball: Appalachian @ Elon 2/6/2012

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After a couple of disappointing finishes for the the Mountaineers, I was hoping that playing the team they beat last would cure the Apps. Once the line was posted, I started getting a bad feeling where this game was heading. Appalachian, after playing two horrendous games in a row, may have started into somewhat of a tailspin. This is something the handicappers have a hard time seeing, where I listen and watch every game as it happens. The fan in me also had a slight pull toward the Mountaineers. The line was posted at Appalachian +1.5. My pick wast the Mountaineers. Elon started strong and never looked back, sending Appalachian to it’s third consecutive loss. The Apps, who were once very reliable on covering spreads, had also lost three games in a row against the spread. My record, which was once 7-4 has now fallen two games below .500 at 8-10.