BOONE, N.C. - In front of 5,074 fans, Appalachian State University men's basketball defeated Western Carolina, 87-74, at the Holmes Center on Saturday afternoon, and narrowed the Southern Conference North Division race. Donald Sims scored 17 of his game-high 28 points in the second half as the Mountaineers moved to 11-8 on the season and 5-3 in league play.
Western Carolina (15-4, 5-2) gained an early eight-point lead behind a strong start from Brandon Giles, who scored 13 points before the intermission.
The Apps then tied the game at 25-25 before taking their first lead of the game on a fast break layup by Sims three minutes before the break. The junior accounted for all nine ASU points during the stretch and finished the game shooting 9-of-11 with three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
The Catamounts regained one more first-half lead before Marcus Wright sank a three-pointer from the corner to give the home team a 35-33 lead at the intermission. Wright came off the bench to match a season high in points, with 15, on 5-of-7 shooting. He added a career-high six assists to go along with a pair of rebounds and a steal.
WCU tied the game five times in the second half and took a pair of leads before it appeared the Apps would pull away. Four points from Isaac Butts and layups from Wright and Nathan Healy extended a two point lead into 10 with 8:46 to play, but Western Carolina stormed back to within a point just two minutes later.
From that point on, Appalachian was 5-of-6 from the field and sank 12-of-16 free throws to ice the game.
Kellen Brand returned from an injury sustained in Wednesday's game at Georgia Southern to score 19 points on 4-of-8 shooting and 10-of-11 free throws.
The Mountaineers shot a scortching 62.5 percent from the field in the second half to finish the game at 53.3 percent. Western struggled from the floor early on and ended the day with a 39.1 mark.
Giles led the Catamounts with 15 points while Richie Gordon added 14 on 5-of-7 shootings. Jake Robinson accounted for three of WCU's eight treys and ended the game with 11 points and four assists.
ASU made a late comeback on the boards to finish with a 37-36 advantage, after WCU was dominant in rebounding for much of the contest. Josh Hunter led all players with nine boards to go along with seven points.
The Catamounts turned 19 offensive boards into 21 second-chance points, compared to just six points on seven offensive rebounds for ASU.
Appalachian ends the month with a two-game road trip, beginning with Samford on Thursday at 8 p.m. The squad then faces Chattanooga on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Note: ASU's Student-Athlete Advisory Board collected donations for the Red Cross Haiti Relief and Development Fund at the Saturday double-header and raised a total of $985.
