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Men’s Basketball 64 Western Carolina 70

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Pregame:

Ready or not, Appalachian will begin its conference schedule on Saturday afternoon in Cullowhee against hated rival Western Carolina. The Mountaineers are still looking for their first Division I win of the season and would love nothing more than to get it against Western. The Catamounts (3-6, 1-0) have had an interesting season thus far, knocking off Furman in their conference opener, but dropping games to the likes of UNC-Asheville and Austin Peay. Western also has wins over Mars Hill, which doesn’t count, and Howard. The teams Western has defeated has a combined 3-16 record. Western’s opponents have beaten St. Andrews, Montreat, and American. So, if you think Appalachian has had a tough season, consider, Western Carolina because their season does not look too much better.

This will be Western’s first home game since beating Mars Hill on November 11th, and are coming off a week of significant travel. The trip from Cullowhee to Eastern Kentucky is not an easy drive, and the Catamounts visited Illinois earlier this week. Western gave The Illini a heck of a battle, very similar to the one Appalachian gave to Virginia Tech a couple weeks ago. Both games were tied late before the schools from power conferences went on late runs to pull away. Both teams covered near twenty point spreads.

Western is led by three double digit scorers in Trey Sumler, Tawaski King & Tom Tankelewicz. Sumler leads all scorers at 17.6 points per game and is eight points away from his 1,000th career point. Sumler has a quick dribble and is second on the team with seventeen three pointers. King is an undersized post player who takes up a lot of space. Although he is listed at 6’8″ and 245 lbs, I am willing to bet he is more like 6’7″ 255. King is scoring 14.1 points per game and pulling down 5.5 rebounds per game, but is a great player to target late in games at the free throw line. Tankelwicz is a transfer from Charleston Southern who leads the team in three pointers with twenty-five. This will be Tankelwicz’s first game against the Mountaineers.

As a team, Western remarkably shoots the same percentage from the field as they allow at 45%. Where the Catamounts get in trouble is that they have allowed more made free throws made (153) by their opponents than they have attempted themselves (143). Even worse, Western’s opponents are shooting 8% better at the free throw line, but that could be attributed to the Catamounts eight road games this season.

Appalachian is on a six game slide although the appearance is that this team is coming together a little bit. Last weekend at Missouri was only a sixteen point loss, but the Mountaineers were never in it and I believe it was anomaly compared to how they have played recently. Appalachian should be amped for their rivals, but have lost two straight in Cullowhee. Jay Canty leads the Mountaineers with 18.1 points per game and is fresh off of SoCon Player of the week honor for his efforts against Missouri and Duquesne. Canty adds 6.3 rebounds and 3,2 assists per game. The key for the Mountaineers will be to defend the perimeter while also getting back in transition. Appalachian has allowed right at 50% shooting from their opponents for the season. Western is not a great rebounding team, so Appalachian will need to take advantage on the offensive glass.

As we mentioned several times, we were expecting a spread of somewhere between 7 and 9 points in favor of Western Carolina. This morning, Western was a 8.5 point favorite, and in less than four hours, the line jumped to 10 points for the Catamounts. If we follow our trends from the past, Appalachian has been a really good team on the road as double digit underdogs. I imagine this line will drop back down to 9.5 points before all is said and done. Our picks are 3-1 on the season, and Appalachian has covered four straight road games. Appalachian was 2-1 was last year as a double digit dog, and was never a double digit dog in conference play. Western Carolina has covered three striaght, but never as a double digit favorite. I think this is an easy pick for the Mountaineers.

Postgame:

After jumping out to a ten point lead at haftime, Appalachian crumbled down the stretch with a lack of offense and allowed Western Carolina to escape with a six point conference win. It was the first time in the thirty year history of the Ramsey Center that Western beat Appalachian three consecutive times. The Mountaineers have now lost seven straight games. The Mountaineers shot 33% in the second half, and 38% for the game.

The game was well played from a possession standpoint. The two teams combined for only 17 turnovers, with neither having a real advantage. In college basketball, that is almost unheard of. The teams hit the exact same number of free throws, but Appalachian had four more opportunities. The Mountaineers finished 17-28, good enough for 60%.

Jay Canty was the Mountaineers leading scorer for the fifth time this season and fourth time in his last five games. Canty finished with 22 points and 8 rebounds while playing all forty minutes. Nathan Healy 15 points and 9 rebounds, four on the offensive end. Jamaal Trice continues to struggle, as he scored five points in twenty five minutes on 2/11 shooting, 1/6 behind the arc.

Despite the Mountaineers losing for the seventh straight games, Appalachian continues to boggle the minds of the bookkeepers in Vegas. Appalachian has now covered for its fifth straight game as a team, and our correct pick moves us to 4-1 on the season. We must enjoy the success while we have it, because the makeup of this team will change significantly when Mike Neal returns, and the Mountaineers play some home games. Next up is Missouri-Kansas City, which has an awesome mascot. The Roos will be considered favorties, but without a common opponent, picking this game will be tough. I am expecting an 11-13 point spread, obviously in favor of UMKC.

Men’s Basketball 56, Missouri 72

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We knew this was a game that could get ugly, as Missouri was ranked 16th in the nation, and it appears we did not miss much from the Mountaineer hoopers while most of the Appalachian fan base was focused on playoff football. The Mountaineers continue to look for their first Division I, and Mountaineer fans are waiting ever so patiently.

There was a bright spot, that Jay Canty is as good as advertised. Even though Canty appeared to be the only Mountaineer that could score with any consistency, as he managed to score over half the team’s points. Missouri took care of the rest the of the Appalachian squad, holding them to ten made field goals. Canty finished with 29 points and six rebounds. No other Mountaineer scored in double figures. Besides Canty, the rest of the Mountaineers shot 25% from the field.

Even though Appalachian can’t figure out how to win, neither can Vegas odds makers. We knew a big spread was coming this game, as the Mountaineers were 25.5 point underdogs. As long as Appalachian is covering the big road spreads, we will continue to ride the momentum. Appalachian covered for the fourth straight time this season. For some perspective into how interesting these covers have been, one must look back. Virginia Tech is 7-0 and has covered every spread this season, except against Appalachian. Duquesne has covered each time they were underdogs, and lost each time they were favorites. East Carolina is 5-1 and has only covered one spread all year long. It is becoming super interesting as we move to 3-1 on the season.

Upcoming is Western Carolina on Saturday, who I would imagine would be favored by a few points, maybe as many six or so. The Catamounts are 3-5 on the season, with some really tough losses to Howard, Austin Peay, and UNC-Asheville. Western has covered two straight, their only two covers on the season. The Cats have Illinois on Tuesday before coming home this weekend against their hated rival for only their second home game of the season.

Men’s Basketball 72 Duquesne 73

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Pregame:

Appalachian hosts Duquesne in Boone tonight in the first meeting between the two schools since a Mountaineer win in in 2005. Duquesnse is a member of the Atlantic 10 conference and currently ranks #195 at realtimerpi. The Dukes will be playing their third road game of the season, having lost their previous two road games at Albany and Georgetown. Duquesne is fresh off of a three game home stand in which they picked up victories over #249 James Madison and #288 Youngstown State, but lost to #77 North Dakota State. Sounds more like a gauntlet of FCS football programs than basketball powerhouses.

Duquesne was picked to finish last in the sixteen team A-10 in the preseason poll. Head coach Jim Ferry is in his first season at Duquesne after guiding LIU-Brooklyn to back to back NCAA tournament appearances. His teams are known for a high scoring brand of basketball, despite the Dukes averaging 67 points per game this far in 2012-13.

Duquesne is replacing two 1,000 point scorers who graduated last year. Currently, three Dukes are averaging in double figures, but the scoring drops off significantly after their big three. Senior guard Sean Johnson leads the team with 13.4 points per game. Johnson rebounds well from his position on the court, leading the team with six boards per game. Johnson also leads the team shooting 84% from the free throw line and is one of four players to start every game. Freshman point guard Derrick Colter leads the team with 21 assists, but also leads the team with 22 turnovers. Colter is second on the team is scoring at 11.8 points per contest. Sixth man Quevyn Winters is third on the team in scoring at 10.8 points per game, but has been inconsistent. Fifty-two of his fifty four points have come in three games. The Duquesne roster includes four players who grew up outside of the United States.

Appalachian has played better in its last two games against East Carolina and Virginia Tech, two teams who are a combined 10-0 at this point in the season. It is apparent that something happened with this team after the Campbell game and before the East Carolina game. Despite carrying a 1-4 record, and having yet to win a Division I game, these Mountaineers are improving and could be poised to break through tonight against a young Duquesne team. The Mountaineers are underdogs in their own house for the first time since playing Wofford last year. The four point spread is a good number for Appalachian. After covering two large spreads on the road, getting points at home seems like a guaranteed win. Last year, when getting points at home, the Mountaineers were 1-1, covering 8.5 against Davidson and losing by 2 to Wofford, in a game where the line was at 1.5. I’ll take the Mountaineers at home.

Postgame:

This game started off poorly for the Mountaineers as their weak defense continued to expose them. Appalachian was constantly leaving shooters wide open on the perimeter, and Duquesne took advantage. The Dukes were able to shoot 50% in the first half, draining seven of their twelve three point attempts as they raced out to a fourteen point halftime lead. The Dukes led by as many as nineteen points in the first half before Appalachian cut the lead in the final minutes. The Dukes surprised the Mountaineers with thirty bench points in the first half.

The second half was an entirely different story.  The Mountaineers started the period on a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to five points before the first media timeout. Five minutes later, the Mountaineers tied the game at 51. In the first nine minutes of the second half, Appalachian outscored Duquesne 18-4. The remainder of the half was a back and forth affair as the lead changed several times. The game was tied for the seventh time with seven minutes to play at 61, and then again four minutes later at 67. With 2:13 to play, the score was knotted for the ninth and final time of the game at 68. The Mountaineers took the lead with 0:47 to play an a layup by Michael Obacha. On the ensuing possession, Appalachian played defense like they did in the first half. Duquense worked the ball around quickly and found an open Quevyn Winters, who nailed a three pointer with 31 seconds left, giving the Dukes the one point lead. Tab Hamilton missed a jumper, and the Mountaineers were forced to foul. Jerry Jones knocked down both free throws with 14.4 seconds remaining. Jay Canty worked down the court and hit a layup, but had to score off of his own miss, which costed the Mountaineers a valuable 2 seconds on the game clock. Duquesne missed both free throws on the foul, with four seconds left, but the Mountaineers could not corral the rebound in enough time to be able to call a timeout and set up a final play. Nathan Healy’s three quarter court shot fell well short.

Despite the result, it was good to see this team fight to the finish. They easily could have quit and gone through the motions. Duquesne went cold in the second half, shooting only 31% from the field. The Dukes only knocked down two three pointers in the second half, but both of them gave them the lead when the game was either tied or they trailed. Appalachian shot 57% in the second half, and ended up 50% for the game, the first time this season the Mountaineers had hit half their shots in a game. Appalachian’s field goal defense was also their best mark of the season. Nathan Healy led the Mountaineers with 21 points, six rebounds and four blocks. Jay Canty scored fifteen and dished out ten assists. Tab Hamilton scored nineteen points and grabbed a career high seven rebounds. Healy (3) , Canty (1) and Hamilton (5) accounted for all nine Mountaineer three pointers. Brian Okam only played nine minutes before fouling out, but was as effective as he has ever been. Okam showed an inside move, worked well off screens and absolutely posterized some poor Duke player on a two-handed slam off of a pick and roll, where he was fouled, and hit the free throw. Jamaal Trice seems to be battling another illness as he sat almost the entire second half. Tevin Baskin played six minutes and turned the ball over three times.

We were correct with our pick of taking the Mountaineers at home being a four point underdog. It didn’t look good in the first half, and if there were bettors on the other side, they had to be furious in the second half. Interesting to know that even though the Mountaineers still do not have a Division I win, they have covered the spread in three straight games. Our record moved to 2-1 on the season, with a very high number likely coming at Missouri on Saturday. I am expecting someting around twenty. Tipoff coincides with kickoff of the playoff football game, so we will do our best to get a pick in sometime on Saturday morning, most likely from tailgate.

Men’s Basketball 76 Virginia Tech 87

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Pregame:

Virginia Tech is off to hot start with a sparkling 4-0 record and its brand new head coach, James Johnson who replaced the fired Seth Greenberg. No matter how hard he tried, Greenberg could not get his teams to the NCAA tournament often enough. Johnson is somewhat of an unknown to the common basketball fan. He spent the past five seasons at VT as an assistant and was hired to be Clemson’s coach in April before the Hokies lured him back. Johnson spent three years of his career in the Southern conference, one year as an assistant at College of Charleston and two years at Elon.

The Hokies have been impressive on both ends of the court this season. In their four wins over East Tennessee State, Rhode Island, VMI & UNCG, the Hokies have averaged 85 points per game, good enough for second in the ACC. Although Tech has given up close to 70 points on the defensive end, their statistics are impressive. Tech’s opponents are shooting under 40% from the floor, and 21% from three point range.

The Hokies are led by senior guard Erick Green who is lighting it up in his final season. Green is averaging nearly 24 points per game while also dishing out 5.5 assists a game, both numbers which lead the team. Green has contributed eight made three pointers this season, for a team that has already made 42 trifectas on the season.

Appalachian’s defense has been atrocious this season, but it seems they might have found a partial solution against East Carolina. The real question is if Appalachian can put together an entire game of offensive and defensive production. The Mountaineers are playing only seven players in their normal rotation, with only seven players seeing action in every game this season. Nathan Healy has been solid after a rough game against High Point. Healy is shooting 60% from the field, and 46% from three point land. Jay Canty leads the Mountaineers in several categories, including points per game, rebounds and free throws made and attempted. Canty could warm up from three point range, as he has only hit one of his twelve attempts.

The Mountaineers are massive 20.5 point underdogs on the road. We were way off with our guess of what the line would be. We were expecting a double digit line, but nothing as high as twenty points. Virginia Tech has covered in both of their games that were lined this season, as have the Mountaineers. Something will have to give. Appalachian could hang tight in a game that is likely to be lightly attended by fans on Black Friday. As we have mentioned in the past, Appalachian has been good against major conference opponents on the road in the double digit spreads the last two years, covering three of four such games. Virginia Tech is bound to have a rough shooting game sometime in their future, and it could be today. I’ll take the Mountaineers to cover this big spread, as I should have done earlier this week.

UPDATE: In the time it took me to write this article, the line dropped from 20.5 to 19.

Postgame:

Appalachian kept the margin close with Virginia Tech for most of the game before fouls caught up with them in the second half. Virginia Tech led for almost the entire second half, outside of Appalachian tying the score at 50 with 14:57 remaining. It was the game’s ninth and final tie of the game. From that point, Tech went on a 23-10 run over the course of the next ten minutes of game action and never looked back.

The game was decided completely on the free throw line. Virginia Tech was awarded thirty-nine free throw attempts on the afternoon and hit thirty of them, a 77% clip for the day. Appalachian countered with only 21 attempts, knocking down only twelve. The Mountaineers have been solid for a good part of this short season at the free throw line, but when they shoot a lower percentage, they do it in the worst way. Tevin Baskin and Michael Obacha were both 1/4 from the line. Even Nathan Healy missed a rare free throw. The bigger story outside of the poor shooting were the opportunities at the foul line. Even though the Mountaineers were only whistled for seven more fouls than Virginia Tech, the Hokies were able to shoot 18 more free throws. The officials even tried to nail Nathan Healy with two flagrant fouls. The first offense, the officials went to the video monitor to review if the flagrant was warranted, but it was not. On the second offense, Healy chased down a wide open layup and blocked the shot, but came down on the opponents arm on the follow through, which caused the shooter to land awkwardly, but on his feet. That foul was called a flagrant in live action, and the officials went to review the play again, and confirmed call. It was obvious at that point in the game, that the officials did not want Appalachian to win. It was one of the worst calls I have seen in college basketball, especially considering the officials could have changed the call by reviewing the play.

When all was said and done, the Mountaineers held on to cover the spread, and we made the right call. It was fourth cover in five games against opponents from the ACC/Big Ten/C-USA that the Mountaineers covered as double digit road dogs. We have evened up our record at 1-1 on the season and will look to go over .500 on the season next week as the Mountaineers return home against Duquesne. The Dukes have covered twice as underdogs this season while they have been favored twice and won, but did not cover.

Men’s Basketball 72, East Carolina 82

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Pregame:

Appalachian travels to long time stat rival East Carolina tonight in the second game of a three games series with the Pirates. Appalachian and East Carolina agreed to a two and one agreement with Appalachian prior to last season, with Appalachian’s home game in the series being played last year at Time-Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte. East Carolina enters the contest at 3-0, fresh off a comeback win over UNC-Greensboro. The will be the Pirates final home game in a four game homestand to start the season as they hit the road to play Georgia State and Charlotte in the coming week. The Pirates other wins to open the season were against Washington & Lee and Methodist.

Miguel Paul leads a quartet of double digit scorers for the Pirates. Paul did not play in the team’s first two games due to a team suspension, but did score 24 points against UNCG. Paul played his first two seasons of college basketball at Missouri. Maurice Kemp is a lanky post player at 6’8 and 190 pounds. Kemp is a senior who has started all three games on the season and is averaging 18.7 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Marshall Guilmette is a 6’10, 240 pound freshman who has averaged 10.7 points and 6.7 rebounds while playing roughly twenty four minutes per contest. Six players on the Pirate roster measure 6’8 or taller on a team that features five seniors and four juniors.

Against High Point and Campbell, the Mountaineers started the game slowly and never held a lead in either contest. Mountaineer opponents are shooting 55% from the field this season and 40% from behind the arc. Despite the Mountaineers averaging seven more rebounds per game, most of that difference has come on the offensive glass, where the Mountaineers have out-rebounded their opponents 47-23. It will be interesting to see what kind of lineup Jason Capel will put together against a much taller team in East Carolina. Is it possible there is a Brian Okam sighting tonight?

On to our in season game of picking a Vegas winner. This is the first game for Appalachian that has been lined this season, despite the Campbell game sneaking in as a pick’em. East Carolina was an 11.5 point favorite against UNCG, but failed to cover despite the come from behind win. Last year, Appalachian was 1.5 point favorite against ECU, but never came close to winning the game. East Carolina is a 14.5 point favorite tonight. Last year, Appalachian was really good on the road covering double digit spreads at the beginning of the season, with covers at Minnesota and North Carolina. However, Appalachian has been trounced by two lesser teams than East Carolina this season and I cannot become a believer in this team until I see it. The smart play goes to East Carolina covering the 14.5 points.

Postgame:

I am not going to pretend that I know alot about this game. Due to home women’s game, I was unable to listen to any radio or video of the game, so this will be a short recap.

Appalachian played much better than expected against what appears to be a better East Carolina team. Appalachian started quickly taking an early lead, that they would relinquish and never receover from. On several occasions throughout the first half, the Mountaineers were able to cut the deficit to two points, but were not able to tie the game or take the lead. Appalachian cut the lead to three points late in the second half, but could not get a defensive stop at the right time.

We called on senior leadership from Nathan Healy, and he has responded. After going scoreless against High Point. Healy has averaged 21 points and 8 rebounds his last two games. Jay Canty added a career high 25 points and grabbed five rebounds and added five assists. Canty was 9/11 from the free throw line. As a team Appalachian was 17/20 from the line.

Overall, six players scored all of the Mountaineer points. The same six players played 93% of the minutes. Michael Obacha started, only played eight minutes, but fouled out without taking a shot. Chris Burgess also saw his minutes decline severely on what appeared to be a coaches decision. Burgess was not in foul trouble, nor did he turn the ball over in his 14 minutes of play. Tevin Baskin grabbed ten rebounds in only 27 minutes of play and Jamaal Trice added ten points in 34 minutes off the bench. Both Baskin and Trice fouled out. Tab Hamilton shot poorly once again, managing one made basket on eight attempts. Hamilton is shooting 30% from two point range on the season. Brian Okam didnt leave bench.

Unfurtunately, I made the wrong call on the point spread. I overlooked Appalachian’s decent record in the last two seasons as a double digit road dog. The Mountaineers have now covered three of their last four games in that situation. Sounds like my pick is already made for Friday afternoon’s game against Virginia Tech. However, based on the UNCG-VT game from Monday Night, its possible we may not see a large spread. It is interesting that Appalachian and Greensboro will have had three common opponents this early in the season. Greensboro and Appalachian have both covered against East Carolina. Greensboro did not cover +5 against Virginia Tech, but it was most likely a bad overreaction line from the books. If I had to guess, Virginia Tech will be favored by 9.5, but would not be surprised to see a spread as high as 11.5. Regardless, we fall to 0-1 on the season, and hopefully the Mountaineers can put together two well played games in a row.

High Point 86, Men’s Basketball 64

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Pregame:

Appalachian Men’s basketball should get its first true test tonight against the High Point Panthers. The Mountaineers defeated the Panthers in their last meeting in 2011. High Point is flying high after a big win over cross town rival UNC-Greensboro, who was picked to finish first in the SoCon North. High Point led by as many as nineteen points before holding off a rally from the Spartans. High Point is making their first trip on the road this season.

It is highly unlikely a spread will come out for this game. High Point only had a line in three games last season, and two of those games were in their conference tournament, which oddsmakers love. We are hopeful we can get a line up for the Campbell game, but if not, East Carolina will certainly have a line. The RPI is a little funky this early in the season, because it is based solely on wins and losses, which neither team has many of. High Point bolted up to 41 with their win. Appalachian is currently ranked 256, with their win over Montreat not counting as it was outside of the Division I.

Post Game:

Appalachian could not overcome a High Point team that could not miss the basket on Tuesday night. The Panthers built a 22 point halftime lead and cruised in the second half to 86-64 win. High Point shot 57% for the game while the Mountaineers countered with 37.5% shooting. The Mountaineers assisted on only five made baskets on the night while turning the ball over 16 times.

Jay Canty and Chris Burgess were the lone bright spots for the Mountaineers. Burgess made six of his nine shots for sixteen points but did not record an assist while turning the ball over four times. Jay Canty scored 23 points and grabbed five rebounds. Nathan Healy had perhaps his worst game as a Mountaineer as he missed all five of his shots, did not score and committed three turnovers. Tab Hamilton never got into the flow of the game. Michael Obacha was a surprise starter in place of Brian Okam. Tevin Baskin recorded all four of the Mountaineer steals in only 17 minutes of play, and also chipped in with ten points.

There is not much you can do when another team comes into your gym and shoots like High Point did. However, the Mountaineers were never in this game from the start. There was no energy and no flow to the game. The Mountaineers looked like a group of individuals, compared to an actual team that was working together. I expect Jason Capel to juggle the starting lineup until he finds something he likes, but by then it may be too late. Fans are already calling for his job and if he wants to keep it, this team must show some signs of playing together.

Basketball: Fearless Predictions

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College basketball kicks off its season this weekend, and the Mountaineers will begin its season against Montreat. In a game that should be an easy win for the Mountaineers, it will be interesting to finally see what kind of rotation and starting lineups we shall see from the Mountaineers. Most of the starting lineup is set, but the first players off the bench are what we are most looking forward to seeing. The starting lineup should include, in no order, Nathan Healy, Jamal Trice, Jay Canty, Tab Hamilton, and Chris Burgess. If Trice is not ready to play, Brian Okam would be the most likely candidate to fill his spot, as the Mountaineers would go with a bigger lineup. Burgess will man the point until Mike Neal regains his eligibility.

On the day of each Mountaineer game, Vegas odds will be posted in games that warrant interest for the men’s games. The Montreats of the world do not garner such interest. We will choose a line, sometimes in favor of the Mountaineers, and sometimes not, depending on how we feel about the game, and keep track of our record throughout the season. There is no actual money being wagered, this is just a fun thing to do during the season.

Looking at Men’s schedule, we have decided to place a total on the number of wins we expect for this season. We feel there are about 6 games on this schedule that we can consider coin flips, and any record that results in a record over .500 would be considered a success for a team that is so young. So, we fearlessly predict 14.5 wins for Jason Capel’s squad. We realistically believe, in a worst-case scenario, this team will win 11-12 games, while in a best case scenario, this team is looking at 17-18 wins, including conference tournament play. However, the number we are going to with is 14.5 for an over/under number for this team.

On the Women’s side, the team has 28 regular season games scheduled, and it will probably be much easier to gauge how well this team will do compared to the men. There are three games that most would point at, would be guaranteed losses early in the season, against Virginia Tech, Xavier & West Virginia. I believe this team could possibly upset one of these schools, and it would not surprise me. In conference play, this team is staring at a record somewhere in the 16-4 to 18-2 range. Samford, Chattanooga and Davidson are the competition in this conference and most likely these teams will decide the conference race. We are going to with a pretty high number, as out of conference teams could test the Mountaineers, but we have confidence in this team. We would expect a record falling somewhere in the 21-7 to 23-5 range in the regular season, but would not be surprised if their record ended up better than that. Tonight’s game against Lees-McRae should be an ugly win.

Men’s Basketball vs Carson-Newman (exhibition)

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Carson Newman led for the first twenty-six minutes on Monday Night, and led by as many as ten points in the first half before Appalachian rallied to a 62-59 exhibition win. Antoine Davis and Ishmael Sanders combined to shoot 40% from behind the arc on 6-15 shooting to lead the Eagles with 21 and 16 points respectively. The Eagles shot 50% from the floor and from three point range in the first half, but cooled off to shoot 41% from the floor and 25% from three in the second half. Appalachian manhandled the defensive glass, only allowing two offensive rebounds. The Mountaineers were able to secure 13 offensive rebounds that they turned into ten second chance points.

Unfortunately, we saw a high turnover number from the Mountaineers as they gave the ball up on 18 occasions, compared to only 12 from Carson-Newman. However, this game was won from the free throw line, which is something I think we all could used to. The Mountaineers trailed by five points at halftime and outscored the Eagles by ten points in the second half from the free throw line. On top of that, the Mountaineers shot 81% from the line for the game. That is three straight games, the scrimmage, and two exhibitions where the Mountaineers shot better from the free throw line than they did on average last season. It is a very encouraging trend.

Jay Canty led all scorers with 27 points and 10 rebounds, but he did it very quietly. It did not seem like Canty took 17 shots in the game, but that is usually the case when most of the shots are going in. Canty has been able to score from all points on the court. Twelve points were scored from the field, nine from three-pointers and six on the foul line. Canty also secured the game for the Mountaineers by stealing the inbounds pass as Carson-Newman looked to tie the game on their final possession.

As we have mentioned, this team is still a work in progress and hopefully they will come together in a week’s time, before their first Division I game. Montreat on Friday should be a win, but High Point will provide a challenge next week. Carson-Newman was a team that was game. On Saturday, The Eagles took ETSU to the wire before falling by eight points in Johnson City. Keep in mind Appalachian was manhandled twice by ETSU last year.

Montreat is 1-2 on the season, and on their schedule, they list the game on Friday Night as an exhibition, along with all of their games against Division I competition, including The Citadel, UNCA and Presbyterian.

 

Men’s Basketball vs Lees-McRae (exhibition)

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This Mountaineer already had plenty of new faces on the team, and they must learn to play together quickly. Appalachian defeated Lees-McRae 76-55 Friday night at the Holmes Center in a game that was more competitive than it should have been. Appalachian was once again without Jamaal Trice due to a variety of illness, and starting point guard Mike Neal was declared academically ineligible earlier in the week. The Mountianeers struggled throughout the game without two sure fire starting quality players. Trice should return next week, while Neal will miss the first nine games of the season before he returns against South Carolina.

Appalachian played well in two categories that has historically plagued the team. The Mountaineers only committed ten turnovers on the night, and only one player turned the ball over more than once. Appalachian also shot well from the free throw line, nailing 84% (26/31) of their attempts. Tevin Baskin hit nine of his ten free throw attempts while Jay Canty knocked down all six of his free throws.

Both teams shot poorly for the night as Appalachian led the way shooting 37.7% for the night while the Bobcats shot 31.3%. Lees McRae outrebounded the Mountaineers 45-44, helped by a 22-17 edge on the offensive boards. Four Mountaineers scored in double r, led by Tab Hamilton with 20 points on 7/18 shooting. Canty added 15 points and nine rebounds. Nathan Healy notched 13 points and six rebounds and Baskin netted 11 points and seven rebounds.

Appalachian led by as many as 27 points in a game where their lead bounced back and forth in the second half. Appalachian held Lees to only seventeen first half points. The Mountianeers primarily used a six man rotation. Reserve point guard Chris Burgess logged 36 minutes, scoring six points and dishing out three assists to only one turnover. Brian Okam played for 18 minutes, yet still managed four fouls.

 

Men’s Basketball: Black & Gold scrimmage

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In a game that was somewhat high scoring in the first slowed to a snail’s pace in the second frame as the Gold squad edged the Black 64-61. On paper, this was a game where the Gold team should have rolled. One could have labeled the Gold squad as the returning letterman, and the Black squad as the newcomers. Not one player on the Black squad has played in a game of record at Appalachian.

The Black squad did give fans their first glimpse of Jay Canty, the Xavier transfer, and Tevin Baskin, who began his career at Quinnipiac before transferring down to Chipola College. Canty was a force from the start, scoring twelve of his seventeen points in the opening minutes of the game. Canty can score from anywhere on the court has he hit 6/12 shots and was 2/5 from behind the arc. Baskin got a good portion of his 23 points from the foul line, stroking eight of his ten attempts. Baskin also added five rebounds and four blocked shots. If Baskin is not a starter, he will be a very valuable sixth or seventh man. Look for Appalachian to lean heavily on him in late game situations, as he can hit foul shots, rebound, and handle the ball.

The Gold squad featured four letterman in Nathan Healy, Mike Neal, Tab Hamilton and Brian Okam. Healy, Hamilton and Neal all played the entire forty minutes, while Okam’s minutes were split with freshman Rantavious Gilbert. Despite only playing twenty minutes, Okam was called for six fouls and only grabbed three rebounds. Neal finished with 17 points, six rebounds and five assists on 6/10 shooting. Hamilton scored 13 points on 6/18 shooting.

Jamaal Trice (fever) and Jonathan Frye did not play in the scrimmage. Michael Obacha suffered an ankle injury in the scrimmage and did not return. As a team last year, Appalachian was a 65% free throw shooting team and was 30/44, (.682) during the scrimmage. The Mountaineers were picked to finish fourth in the SoCon North by coaches and media. No Mountianeers were recognized as preseason all conference players.