Donte Minter got his second-consecutive double-double in Saturday's win (Photo: Bill Sheffield) Game statistics

Mountaineers Cruise Past The Citadel, 63-50
by Appalachian Sports Information

January 5, 2008 - CHARLESTON, S.C. - Senior Donte Minter finished off a strong showing in the Lowcountry with 11 points and a career-high 13 rebounds for his second-consecutive double-double in Appalachian State men’s basketball’s 63-50 over The Citadel Saturday afternoon.

Ryann Abraham added 13 points off the bench on 4-of-6 shooting while his running mate on the perimeter Eduardo Bermudez pulled down a season-high six boards to help lead Appalachian (7-6, 2-2 SoCon) to a 43-34 advantage on the glass.

The Citadel (5-8, 0-4 SoCon), losers of 16-straight to ASU, was handcuffed by the larger ASU lineup all afternoon as the Cadets shot just 29 percent from the floor, their second-worst outing from the floor of the season and were outscored 28-14 in the paint. Tyrell McDowell led the losing effort with 15 points and eight rebounds.

Appalachian led 36-28 at halftime after trailing for the majority of the first half and opened up the second stanza with a 16-7 run to take a 19-point, 54-35, lead with just under 10 minutes to play. That lead came courtesy of six-straight fastbreak points from Abraham. Two minutes later, the Apps ran their lead out to a game-high 20 points on a wide-open three-pointer from Doug McLaughlin-Williams.

However, over the final eight minutes The Citadel would give its fans a brief glimmer of hope as the Cadets pared the lead down to 10, 60-50, with 1:32 left on a Zach Urbanus three-pointer. The Cadets outscored ASU 13-3 during that span and held ASU scoreless for 4:28 of action.

ASU quickly dashed any chance of a comeback as Sims and Abraham made three of their four free throw attempts in the final minute after The Citadel, which missed its final four shots from the floor, had to foul three times just to put ASU in the bonus.

The Citadel opened the game with a 10-4 lead courtesy of an 8-0 spurt and held ASU scoreless for 3:38 until a pair of back-to-back three-pointers ended the drought as ASU scored 11 of the next 16 point to tie the game at 15-15 with 12:08 left in the half. The Mountaineers claimed their first lead of the ballgame at 25-24 with 5:50 on the clock courtesy of two fast-break layups from Brand.

The Cadets briefly assumed the lead with 5:32 left in the half, however that was their last field goal in the half as ASU closed out the period on a 12-2 run that featured two three-pointers from Sims to carry a 36-28 lead into the locker room.

Minter’s performance came on the heels of his 19-point, 11-rebound evening at the College of Charleston on Thursday. He and the Mountaineers will be back in action on Thursday evening when they travel to Wofford to go for their third-straight SoCon win in a 7 p.m. tipoff.