Kellen Brand led ASU with 20 points in Saturday's 88-81 triumph (ASU athletics photo) Game statistics

Mountaineers Top Eagles for Sixth-Straight Win
by Appalachian Sports Information

January 19, 2008 - BOONE, N.C. -- Propelled by 20 points from Kellen Brand and Donte Minter’s third double-double of the month, Appalachian State University men’s basketball extended its winning streak to six with an 88-81 victory over Georgia Southern on Saturday afternoon at the Holmes Center.

Appalachian (11-6, 6-2 SoCon) ran out to a 10-0 lead and never trailed by more than two points en route to avenging an 85-72 loss at GSU in December. Georgia Southern (12-6, 5-3 SoCon) rallied to cut the ASU lead to just one point at halftime, but the Mountaineers opened the second half with a 21-10 run and held the advantage the rest of the way. Minter sparked the decisive 21-10 run with five points, three steals and two assists during the 6:17 spurt.

Brand made 7-of-10 free throws, including 7-of-8 in the second half, on his way to the team-high 20 points, while Minter’s third double-double in six games came via 16 points and 13 rebounds, matching a career-high for boards. Donald Sims, followed up Thursday’s 28-point performance with 19 points and Jeremy Clayton chipped in with 15 to round out four Apps in double-figures. Clayton also contributed with five blocks and four assists, while Davis Bowne led all players with six assists.

GSU’s Louis Graham also registered a double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds in the losing effort. Willie Powers added 16 points and a team-high five assists.

The Mountaineers continued their strong shooting, converting on 51 percent of their field goals and 52 percent from behind the three-point arc. Appalachian held a 13-5 advantage from three-point range with the Eagles making just 33 percent of their long-range attempts.

ASU opened the game with the 10-0 run courtesy of back-to-back three-pointers from Brand and four points from Minter. However, the Eagles would chip away at that lead and eventually tie the game at 26-26 with 7:30 left in the half on a Graham free throw. GSU would go on to claim the lead three times in the remainder of the half, but were never able to hold it for more than 23 seconds and a Brand layup helped ASU take a 39-38 lead into the locker room.

With just over three minutes elapsed in the second-half, the Apps began to make their run as a thunderous dunk from Clayton and a three-pointer from Sims keyed a 10-0 run that gave ASU a 56-44 lead with 14:55 left in the game. Again, the Eagles would chip away at the lead and would get as close as three, 70-67, with 6:53 on the clock on a Powers jumper. ASU wasted little time in reasserting control with a 13-4 run capped by back-to-back three-pointers from Sims to stretch ASU’s lead back out to 12, 83-71 with 2:17 left to play. The Eagles would get no closer than seven points for the remainder of the contest with a GSU layup with eight seconds left accounting for the final 88-81 tally.

Coupled with Chattanooga’s 85-58 loss at Davidson on Saturday, Appalachian moved within a half-game of UTC for the Southern Conference North Division lead.

Appalachian will take to the road next week to go for its seventh-straight win on Thursday when it faces Furman at 7 p.m. at Timmons Arena.