Appalachian (15-14, 10-8 SoCon) won seven of its final eight games in the regular season to secure the North division’s third seed. Senior Donald Sims earned first-team all-conference honors from the league's media while junior Omar Carter was named to the second team. Both players were named to the 10-member coaches' postseason all-SoCon squad as well.
ASU opens the tournament against Georgia Southern for the second time in three years on Friday, with the winner taking on defending champ Wofford in Saturday’s quarterfinal round.
The Apps advanced to the championship game last season, falling to Wofford by a narrow 56-51 margin. It was ASU’s first trip to the final since winning the title in 2000.
Scouting the Eagles (5-26, 1-17 SoCon)
• Georgia Southern enters the tournament on a two-game skid following home losses to UNC Greensboro and Elon in the last week of the regular season.
• Ben Drayton leads the team with 15.7 points and 4.5 assists per game, while Eric Ferguson also scores in double figures at 12.3 points per game to accompany a team-high 5.7 rebounds per game.
• ASU won the only regular season matchup, 79-51, in the Holmes Center in January. Carter (25), Sims (19) and Jeremi Booth (17) combined for 61 points in the contest.
• Western Carolina faces the winner of UNCG/Davidson in the other section of ASU’s bracket.
Live audio of all of ASU's games will be available on the Appalachian Sports Network. Both of Sunday's semifinal games will be televised regionally on SportSouth and Monday's championship game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2.
