BOONE, N.C. - Donald Sims led four Appalachian State University men's basketball players in double-figures and Appalachian claimed the Southern Conference North Division championship outright with an 80-74 win over Chattanooga on Thursday night at the Holmes Center.

The Mountaineers (19-11, 12-5 SoCon) never trailed en route to their seventh win in eight games. After leading by as many as 13 points in the second half, ASU saw its advantage dwindle to one point with under five minutes remaining. However, a three-point play by Josh Hunter and back-to-back three-pointers from Sims sparked an 11-4 Mountaineer run that put the game away.

Hunter reached double figure points for the third time in the last four games, as he totaled 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting with three free throws. The senior added three rebounds and dished out three assists as well.

Helping out in the post, Isaac Butts matched a season high with 13 rebounds to go along with eight points on 4-of-6 shooting. The big man came one block shy of matching his career high as he swatted four of ASU's five shots on the night. As a team, ASU connected on 48.3 percent of field goal attempts and 13-of-29 three-pointers in the game, including 8-of-15 long balls in the second half.

Ricky Taylor sparked the Chattanooga (14-16, 6-11) offense, as he matched a career high with 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting. The Mocs sank 17-of-29 field goal attempts in the second half to finish the game at 49.2 percent, marking just the second time Appalachian has won a game when being out-shot by its opponent on the season.

For the Mocs, Ridge McKeither hauled in five rebounds off the bench and added 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting. Ty Patterson chipped in 10 points and four steals while Keegan Bell dished out 10 assists.

Kellen Brand recovered from Monday's forgettable offensive outing to score 18 points with four three-pointers. The guard added six rebounds and three assists on the night.

Jeremi Booth finished with 12 points on 3-of-5 shooting to round out ASU's double-figure scorers. He sank 2-of-4 threes and all four free throw attempts. Neither team attempted a single free throw in the first half and the Apps finished a perfect 9-for-9 from the stripe in the game.

The Mountaineers owned a 36-26 advantage on the boards for the evening and converted 11 offensive rebounds into 15 second-chance points. Appalachian grabbed 25 of UTC's 31 missed shots on the evening.

ASU hosts Samford on Saturday at 3 p.m. in the final regular season game of the season. The squad will honor its five seniors before the contest, beginning at 2:50 p.m.

Notes: The win moves the Apps to 8-1 against North division teams on the year ... The 12 conference wins tie for the sixth-most in program history ... Appalachian is 12-3 at home on the season, just one win shy of the Holmes Center record, as the 2004-05 team was 13-1 at home ... ASU's conference title is the 10th overall and sixth outright.

Before the game, Buzz Peterson presented Kellen Brand and Donald Sims with basketball commemorate the players' 1,000th points from earlier this season. (Photo: Dave Mayo)