Vikings Basketball Tangles with Patriots, Huskies

Avery basketball has played a pair of opponents thus far this week, hosting the Madison Patriots on Tuesday night and traveling to Jefferson on Wednesday to take on the Ashe County Huskies.

Both the Lady Vikings junior varsity and varsity teams were winners at Viking Gym on Tuesday. Mercedes Bentley scored a game-high 21 points as the junior varsity upended the Madison squad by a 51-33 final score. Brooke Buchanan and Logan Johnson each added six in the win.

The varsity Lady Vikings dismantled the visiting Madison girls 78-57. Katie Ellis scored 17 points with nine rebounds and four steals for Avery, with Allison Vance and Samantha Shook reaching double-figures in the scoring column with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Avery's junior varsity boys lost a heartbreaker to Madison by a final score of 43-41. Avery trailed by as many as 12 points midway through the fourth quarter, but a frantic run paced by three 3-pointers by Viking Mark Polsgrove erased the margin. Polsgrove's third trifecta knotted the score at 41 with five seconds remaining. Madison had just enough time to drive downcourt and Robby Shelton took the ball to the hoop and scored inside as the buzzer sounded for the Patriot win. Polsgrove scored 12 for Avery, with nine points from Trevor Shields, eight from Alex Villanueva, and six points from Spencer Blackburn.

Avery's varsity boys fell in defeat to Madison by a final score of 88-66. Madison led after a high-scoring opening period by a 22-17 advantage, but the Patriots pulled away midway through the second quarter, lighting up the scoreboard for a total of 34 second-quarter points while the Vikings scored a respectable 21. Madison's lead extended to 56=38 at halftime. Dustin Clarke paced the Vikings with 23 first half points to lead all scorers while Kody Hughes contributed with nine points.

Madison took a 74-50 lead after three quarters of play en route to the 22-point triumph. Clarke finished the night for the Vikings with 26 points, while Kody Hughes was the only other Viking in double-figures with 14 points. A total of four Madison players scored double-figures in the Western Highlands Conference contest.

Wednesday's afternoon and evening of basketball was an unhappy on for the Avery clubs, as the Ashe County Huskies swept all four games in Jefferson. The Avery JV girls team tipped off the day's contest which was a game of scoring runs. Ashe blitzed the Lady Vikings for 20 first-quarter points to take a double-digit lead at 20-8 after one quarter of play. Avery responded and regrouped, especially on the defensive end. Avery held Ashe to only five points in the second quarter and rallied behind ten first half points by Mercedes Bentley. Avery took the lead from Ashe at 26-25 at intermission.

The Lady Huskies did not fold, though. A 19-5 scoring spurt over the entirety of the third period staked Ashe County to the lead at 44-31 after three stanzas. Avery was unable to mount another charge to contend for the victory, however, as Ashe triumphed by a final score of 57-44. Bentley finished the game with 20 points for the Lady Vikings, but no other player scored more than four in the loss.

Avery's junior varsity boys trailed Ashe by an 19-11 score at halftime, as the Vikings played a slower pace and its defense made life difficult for the fast-paced attack of the Huskies. Ashe began the third quarter with a 7-0 run in the first two minutes of the third quarter to stretch its lead to 26-11. The Vikings failed to score a point for the first five and a half minutes of the period, while Ashe built its lead to over 20 points and went on to the 53-38 win.

In varsity action the Avery Lady Vikings appeared in firm control of the game with Ashe County through much of the first half. The Huskies were without their leading scorer Kim McNeil who led Ashe in scoring when the two squads met Avery's first game of the season.

The first half was a low scoring matchup as Avery led 10-7 after one quarter and 20-18 at halftime. Katie Ellis led the Lady Vikings with seven points in the first half. Ashe County showed great poise coming out of the locker room, as well as better offensive execution. An 8-0 Ashe scoring run in the first 72 seconds of the half gave the Lady Huskies the lead for good at 26-20.
Ashe was paced by Mallory Clay, who scored 13 of her 16 points for the game during the third quarter scoring run that put the Huskies up 39-30 after three quarters.

Avery had a difficult time hanging on to the basketball throughout the contest, which led to a number of Ashe scoring changes. The Lady Vikings turned it over 21 times in the game, five of which came early in the second half to jump start the Ashe offensive transition game.

The Lady Vikings would not give up as they used their own 13-7 scoring run early in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 46-43. Two Megan Tennant free throws cut the deficit to 46-45, but that would be as close as Avery would get. Ashe built its lead back late to 53-47 and won by a 55-50 final score.

Ellis led Avery with 15 points, to go with 10 rebounds, two steals, and a pair of blocks. Shook tallied eight of her ten points in the second half.

Box Score:
Avery 10 10 10 20 — 50
Ashe 7 11 23 14 — 55
Avery (9-6 record overall): Ellis 15, Shook 10, Avery 8, Perry 2, Vance 8, Tennant 3, Eudy 2, Wiseman 2
Ashe (13-1 record overall): Clay 16, Elliott 13, Barker 12, Hanes 6, Yearick 6, McVey 2

In the varsity boys contest Avery fell to Ashe County 70-50 in a night of milestones for the Huskies. Ashe County head coach Marc Payne was honored for getting his 500th victory last Friday night in a win over North Wilkes. Early in the second quarter, Tommy Spagnolo registered his 1,000th career point and the contest was stopped temporarily to recognize his achievement.

Avery was not phased by the pomp and circumstance of the evening, however. The Big Red played even with the Huskies in the first quarter, leading on multiple occasions before closing the quarter tied at 15 points each.

The bane of Avery's squad and head coach Bo Manis has been the team's performances in the second quarter of games this season. That trend continued Wednesday as the Huskies outscored Avery 21-12 in the period to take a 36-27 halftime advantage. Dustin Clarke led the Vikings with 11 first-half points, with seven points from Cole Blackburn and six from Kody Hughes. All three players would end the night in double-figures scoring for Avery.

Avery tried to cut into the Husky lead in the third quarter, but the guard play of Grayson Wells and Daniel Waln was strong, scoring a combined seven points in the quarter and controlling game tempo. Ashe led 52-38 after three quarters of action. Spagnolo, who had only five first-half points, asserted himself in the final eight minutes by scoring nine points in the final stanza. Ashe's Tatum Lemly, who registered 16 first-half points to lead his club, scored four of his six second-half points in the quarter en route to outscoring the Vikings 18-12 over the final eight minutes.

Clarke led the Vikings with 18 points, five rebounds, four steals, and three assists. Cole Blackburn added 12 points and nine rebounds, with 11 points and seven rebounds from Kody Hughes. Waln scored 11 points with 10 assists for the Huskies to go with Tatum Lemly's 24 points to lead all scorers.

Box Score:

Avery 15 12 11 12 — 50
Ashe 15 21 16 18 — 70

Avery (2-13 record overall): Hughes 9, Pittman 3, Clarke 18, Ward 2, Porter 6, Blackburn 12
Ashe County (11-2 record overall): Waln 11, Wells 7, Holman 8, Lemly 24, Spagnolo 14, Absher 3, Clay 1, Nichols 2

The Vikings return to the hardwood on Friday night with an evening of conference basketball action in Burnsville against Mountain Heritage.

App Falls to Davidson

By: Matt Laws (matt.laws@averyjournal.com)
Avery Journal-Times

The Appalachian Mountaineers had the perfect game plan to defeat Davidson and the nation’s top scorer. However, the Mountaineers couldn’t capitalize as the Apps fell to the Wildcats 70-52.

"We weren't productive," Mountaineer Coach Houston Fancher said. "Playing a team like that, you've got to score with them.

The Mountaineers kept national phenomenon Stephen Curry limited to 18 minutes as he got into early foul trouble.

However, Appalachian could not overcome the Wildcat defense and their own offensive woes.

"We just didn't produce,” Francher said. “And we had looks. Donald Sims is one of the best 3-point shooters in this league and he's wide open four times and doesn't knock it down. We go to the free-throw line and leave eight points, we're 8 of 16 from the free-throw line. We gave them 21 more field-goal opportunities than we had and that's based on two things, offensive rebounds and our turnovers.”

The Mountaineers quickly got into trouble as Davidson raced out to a 12 point lead. However, the Mountaineers closed the gap with a nine point run. Appalachian trailed 33-30 at the half as they were unable to take or share the lead in the half.

In the first half, Curry was only able to play eight minutes as he scored seven first half points. Curry finished the game with 19 points.

The second half was all Davidson as they scored 11 of the first 14 points of the half. The Wildcats led by as many as 21 points.

Kellen Brand led the Mountaineers with 21 points, while Max Paulhus Gosselin and Will Archambault led the Curry-less Wildcats with 14 points apiece.

The game was played in front of a record Holmes Center Crowd at 8,350. The Davidson game topped the building’s first game when the Apps welcomed the Tar Heels of North Carolina by 25 tickets.

Despite the loss, Coach Fancher was proud of the effort his players showed.

“I don’t think we can play harder. I think we can play better,” Fancher said. “That’s certainly what we want to strive for, but I am extremely proud of how hard our kids played.They played their guts out tonight. They played as hard as they could possibly play and it just didn’t happen for them tonight.”

The Mountaineers hit the road for the next three games starting tonight in Chattanooga.

Vikings Wrestlers Kicks off New Year with Conference Action

The Avery wrestling team competed in its first dual meets of the 2009 calendar year last week, traveling on Tuesday to Hendersonville for a tangle with the Bearcats and hosting the Polk County Wolverines in a dual on Friday evening.

In Tuesday’s dual meet the Vikings fell by the final match score of 45-24, although the meet was much closer than the final score indicated. The evening began with the 103 pound weight class, where there was a double forfeit.

Avery’s Devin Buchanan won by forfeit at 112 pounds, with Brock Yackey earning a 6-0 decision win over Hendersonville’s Pierce Carpenter. Avery was unable to pick up a victory in its next four matches, losing three by pinfall and one by forfeit.

Anthony Varacalli added to the Vikings team score at the 145 pound class when he won by injury default. Jose Munoz competed at the 152 pound class and earned a 6-1 decision victory to draw the Vikings to within six points at 24-18.

Avery gave up a forfeit at 160 pounds, and CJ Vance fell in an 11-4 decision at 171 pounds to give up only three team points. In the 189 pound weight division, Lucas Lecka won by pin in the first period over Hendersonville’s Jeremiah Brown to bring Avery within nine points at 33-24. Unfortunately Avery could not draw any closer, as a Hendersonville victory at 215 pounds and a forfeit victory at heavyweight provided for the margin of victory.

“We had some opportunities to take advantage of situations that we did not take advantage of. There were a number of places where we were unable to get pins, and Hendersonville fought hard to prevent the pin which made a big difference as far as the final score indicated,” Avery head wrestling coach Stacey Clark said following the match.

On Friday night the Vikings hosted a pair of Western Highlands Conference opponents. Avery first faced off with Polk County in a dual meet. In a hard fought dual, the Wolverines emerged victorious with a 52-21 match win.

The contest began with a forfeit loss to Polk in the heavyweight class. Polk captured the 103 pound bout, but Avery picked up two straight pinfall wins by Brock Yackey at 112 pounds and Jacob McKinney at 119 pounds.

Avery forfeited at 125 pounds and lost by pinfall at 130 pounds and by decision at 135 pounds. Avery forfeited another match at 140 pounds, but Anthony Varacalli won by third period pinfall at 145 pounds to make the match score 34-18. Jose Munoz fell in a close 3-2 decision at 152 pounds, while the Vikings forfeited at 160 pounds.

The bout of the meet occurred at 171 pounds when Avery’s CJ Vance took on Polk’s David Burkhalter. In a back and forth affair, Vance emerged with a come-from-behind win by a 14-13 score.

Lucas Lecka fell by a 13-7 decision to Polk’s Jake Williams at 189 pounds, while Nathaniel Buchanan fell by pinfall at 215 pounds to close out the match. In the end Avery wrestled with great tenacity against a team that entered Friday’s match with a top 15 ranking in a number of state publications.

“Polk has a solid squad. They have several kids who are ranked in a number of polling sites. NC Mat News has the Polk squad ranked, so we knew they were tough. We had seen a number of their wrestlers at the NEO Classic at Tuscola, and we knew we’d have our hands full coming in. With the forfeits we had coming into the match, I felt we wrestled better against Polk than we did against Hendersonville,” Coach Clark explained. “We had a number of wrestlers who did not wrestle as well against Hendersonville wrestle better matches against Polk, with some of them doing a great job with refusing to be pinned and not giving up team points.”

Following the Polk match, the Vikings took part in a second dual meet, a make-up dual against Mountain Heritage that had previously been postponed. Despite having already competed once in the evening, the Vikings defeated the Cougars by a 41-36 final match score.

Winners in the Heritage match included Devin Buchanan with a first period pinfall victory at 112 pounds and Brock Yackey with an 18-3 technical fall victory at 119 pounds. Heritage earned wins at the 103 pound weight class, as well as at 125 pounds, 130 pounds, and 135 pounds to take a 24-11 match lead.

The wins by Varacalli and Munoz came back to back at the 145 and 152 pound classes, respectively to draw the Vikings within a point at 24-23. A forfeit loss at 160 pounds gave the Cougars a seven-point advantage, but victories in the upper weights helped put the Vikings over the top.

At the 171 pound class, CJ Vance won his second match of the night with a second period pinfall win over Heritage’s Chad Yang. At 189 pounds, Lucas Lecka came through with a pinfall victory in just 24 seconds to give the Vikings the overall match lead 35-30.

“Lucas has really come on and shown ability that I knew was there, but was reluctant to say was going to emerge so quickly,” Coach Clark added. “He wrestled a hard fought match with Polk but came up short, but came out with the same intensity against Heritage and came out with an early pinfall. He has really progressed here lately,”

A forfeit win at 215 pounds by Nathaniel Buchanan provided for the final Avery points. Heritage won by forfeit at the heavyweight class to close the match, but Avery came away with a split for the night.

“The Mountain Heritage win was crucial for us, as we need a couple of wins to boost confidence on the team and carry us through the rest of the conference season. We had a number of pins where we needed them,” Coach Clark added.

Avery honored seniors Jordan English, Jose Munoz, and Anthony Varacalli as part of the Senior Night festivities in Viking Gym.

“We honored our three seniors and the service they have given the past four years. Jordan has been a solid contributor to the program, despite not being able to wrestle this season. He has done whatever he could do to help us, even weighing in for a match to give the team points with a forfeit win,” Coach Clark said of his seniors.

“Jose has progressed well in his senior season and Anthony has been solid for us for a majority of the season. I appreciate each of them. Their ability and improvement reflects the fact that they didn’t quit. They stayed and learned and became better wrestlers. I appreciate them sticking it out with us and I have enjoyed coaching them.”

The Vikings grapplers travel to Madison for a dual meet early in the week, then travel to Robbinsville High School this Saturday for the annual Far West Invitational Tournament.

Vikings Clawed By Bearcats, Wolverines

The Avery Vikings varsity boys hoped to put together their first winning streak of the season following a thrashing of Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy, but it was the visiting Bearcats that ran wild and struck early and often.

Hendersonville built a 24-8 lead behind a full-court pressing defense that consistently harassed any Viking player attempting to bring the basketball upcourt. The Bearcats upped the offensive ante in the second quarter, turning defense into offense to the tune of a 27-point second quarter burst.

Avery scored nearly double the points it tallied in the first quarter, as Kody Hughes led Avery with all seven of his points for the game during the stanza. Fifteen second quarter points only dug a deeper hole for the Vikings to climb from, as Hendersonville led 51-23 at halftime.

The third quarter proved more of the same, as Hendersonville turned the basketball game into a track meet with 27 additional points in the quarter to amass a 78-31 lead after three quarters and eventually won by the final score of 96-45.

Senior Jared Ward was the only Avery player in double-figures, scoring 14 points, with seven points from Hughes. No other Viking scored more than four points for the game. Hendersonville registered five double-figure scorers, led by 19 points from Keyvon Young.

“Hendersonville is a game we felt best to forget. But we can use it as a motivation tool. They got on the floor more than we did, which was an example our team needs to strive to follow,” Coach Bo Manis said following Tuesday’s loss. “They played awesome and we just played poorly.”

On Friday night the Vikings looked to win for the second straight season at Polk County, the site of Avery’s lone conference victory a season ago. As the game began, it was evident almost immediately that the Vikings were quick to forget the disappointment of Tuesday’s loss. Dustin Clarke shook off his four-point effort against the Bearcats by torching the Wolverines for seven points in the first quarter alone, including a basket from behind the three-point arc. Cole Blackburn added five points in the period as Avery held a 16-14 lead after the first quarter expired.

Polk County responded to the Avery surge with a second quarter run. Forwards Trent Carson and Parrish Gary scored two baskets each to help the Wolverines take over control of the game and a 31-26 lead into halftime. Clarke scored 11 points over the first two quarters, while Blackburn added eight.

The Vikings opened the third quarter with a scoring flurry to erase its deficit and regain the lead at 37-35 early in the period. Play on both ends of the floor was rough and physical, and both coaches appeared flustered at times with officiating through the contest. Polk head coach Craig Culbreth received a technical foul in the quarter for complaining too vehemently with an official, and his team responded by regaining the lead at 42-39 by quarter’s end.

A Clarke three-pointer in the opening minute of the fourth period drew the Vikings within a pair at 44-42, but the Wolverines found the ability to answer an Avery threat every time they needed to do so. Polk scored five straight points, including a Trent Carson three-pointer to extend the Polk lead to 49-42.

Avery appeared to show signs of physical and mental fatigue as it tried to dig deep for one final push to win. “The worst combination you can have in sports is mental and physical fatigue. When those two factors come together, you’re in trouble. I believe those came into play as we got a little tired and started taking bad shots that we didn’t need to take,” Coach Manis stated after the game.

Reserve guard Kasey Jackson came up huge for the Wolverines in the fourth quarter with a pair of baskets. Jackson entered the game averaging less than one point per contest, but scored nine points off the bench against the Vikings. Kamron Kerr led the Wolverines on the floor with 14 points, eight of which came in the second half to help Polk defeat the Vikings 63-49.

Dustin Clarke was Avery’s lone double-figure scorer as he netted 22 points to go with five rebounds and multiple assists. Cole Blackburn scored eight points, with seven from Kody Hughes.

“Unlike Tuesday’s game, tonight’s game is definitely one that our team can build off of. We were able to be successful working together in game situations. But we’re still a young team who needs to learn how to respond to adversity,” Coach Manis said after the contest. “In all of our close games this season we’ve had the same problems with foul trouble and taking better care of the basketball. In the second half we had the lead and had no reason to rush into anything, but they came at us and we felt like we had to score, and we basically fell apart.”

The Vikings hosts Madison on Tuesday night, and travel this Friday to Burnsville for a matchup with Mountain Heritage.

Lady Vikings Trounce Bearcats, Fall to Wolverines

The Avery Lady Vikings were impressive last Tuesday night in a 74-31 blowout victory over the Hendersonville Lady Bearcats at Viking Gym. However, Avery found a difficult foe in the Polk County Wolverines on Friday night in Columbus, falling 62-55 in a physical confrontation.

In Tuesday’s contest, Avery scored the first six points of the game and led by five at 10-5 after one period. The team's transition game found its groove in the second quarter as the guard tandem of Allison Vance and Samantha Shook combined for ten points in the quarter. Katie Ellis came off the bench and scored nine first half points to help Avery to a 31-18 lead going into intermission.

A 21-4 scoring run over the course of the third quarter put the contest out of reach as Avery's quick hands wreaked havoc on the helpless Bearcats. The Big Red rode the strength of seven players scoring in the quarter to amass a 52-22 lead after three periods and cruised to the easy 74-31 win.

Ellis paced the Lady Vikings with a double-double, scoring 17 points and hauling down 11 rebounds in addition to four blocks. Vance scored 14 points with eight helpers and five steals. Eudy rounded out the double-figure scorers with ten points and five steals. Megan Tennant and Samantha Shook each scored nine points in the triumph.

On Friday night Avery took on a formidable opponent at Polk County. The first quarter’s physical action was a harbinger of exactly how tough and rugged the evening’s Western Highlands Conference encounter would be. Avery players found themselves in early foul trouble as the first quarter ensued. Senior Katie Ellis picked up a pair of early fouls which limited her playing time and production as she registered no first quarter points and only four for the entire half.

A number of Vikings helped keep the Vikings close in the first half. Sara Wiseman came off the bench with a pair of first quarter baskets as Avery trailed only by a pair at 12-10 after the first eight minutes of play.

Avery found trouble dealing with the Polk County trio of Kiki Miller, Kaitlin Franks, and Denise Edwards. Miller and Franks each scored seven first-half points while Edwards scored eight to lead Polk to a 29-25 halftime advantage. Avery countered with seven points by Samantha Shook in a half that was marked by a high number of turnovers from both clubs.

The Lady Vikings exited the locker room with renewed focus. Vikings guard Lauren Avery came alive offensively with four baskets and eight total points. Sophomore forward Katelynn Eudy helped shoulder the Avery scoring burden as well, netting nine of her total of 14 points in the period to help the Big Red overtake Polk on the scoreboard by the score of 46-42 at the end of the third quarter.

Kiki Miller continued to provide scoring punch from the post for the Lady Wolverines with nine points in the quarter. The senior was productive in the paint, drawing a number of fouls throughout the game. Miller took 16 free throws in the contest, one less than that of the entire Lady Vikings team. A total of 13 of Miller’s game-high 25 points came from the free throw line, including 8 of 9 in the second half.

In the final eight minutes of play, Polk County’s defense stifled the Lady Vikings, while the Lady Wolverines continued to find success inside offensively. Polk earned second and third chances at the basket through offensive rebounds and its aggressiveness inside. That aggression eventually translated into further foul difficulties for Avery.

Avery turned the basketball over 27 times in the game and was only 6 of 17 as a team from the free throw line, giving the Wolverines a number of extra possessions which they took advantage of. Polk scored the first four points of the quarter to tie the game at 46-46.

The teams traded baskets in the middle portion of the final quarter, but the momentum swung as Shook first fouled out, then Ellis fouled out a brief time later with just over two minutes remaining and the Wolverines leading 52-51. The Lady Wolverines ended the game with a 10-4 spurt to close out the upset.

Katelynn Eudy led the Vikings on the scoreboard with 14 points. Lauren Avery, Allison Vance, and Katie Ellis each scored eight points. Kiki Miller registered a double-double with 25 points and 13 rebounds. Kaitlin Franks added 14, while Denise Edwards scored 12 points with nine rebounds.

Avery finishes the week with an 8-5 record overall and a 2-1 mark in Western Highlands Conference play. The Lady Vikings host Madison on Tuesday and travel to Mountain Heritage this Friday night.

Appalachian State Hosts Stephen Curry and Davidson College TONIGHT at the Holmes Center

Today we're doing something a little different at the Blog. The Avery Journal-Times will be at Appalachian State University's Holmes Center for tonight's men's basketball game between the Davidson College Wildcats (11-3, 4-0 SoCon) and the ASU Mountaineers (6-6, 3-1 SoCon).

Jamie will be courtside with blog updates throughout the game, while Matt will be snapping shots that we'll be adding to the site during the game.
We'll have postgame interview quotes from coaches and players immediately after the game, and perhaps Matt and I may throw in an opinion or two along the way.

It will be a packed house tonight at the Black Hole as the ASU Mountaineers host Davidson College and National Player of the Year candidate Stephen Curry. The Wildcats have won 7 of the previous 8 meetings in the series, and Appalachian is the last Southern Conference team to upend Davidson, winning 81-74 at Davidson two seasons ago. That loss was the last time that the Wildcats lost to a SoCon opponent, a 34-game win streak. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.

When Last They Met:
Davidson College used a 10-0 second half run to bust open a five-point game en route to a 68-55 victory over Appalachian State University men’s basketball in the Feb. 27 battle between Southern Conference division leaders. Appalachian was paced by Donte Minter’s 19 points and eight rebounds while Jason Richards had a season-high 24 points for the Wildcats.

The Mountaineers shot 50 percent from the field, becoming just the fourth team this season to do so against Davidson, but were paralyzed offensively by 19 turnovers that Davidson converted into 21 points. The Cats also had 10 more offensive opportunities than the Apps, holding a 16-6 advantage on the offensive glass and took 26 more shots than ASU, converting on 39.7 percent of them for their 18th-consecutive victory.

Game Breakdown:
It's tempting to rename tonight's game "The Stephen Curry Show", but don't be so fast to dismiss the Wildcats as a one-trick pony. Davidson is a team with talented players at several positions, as witnessed in their last game on Saturday.

Stephen Curry collected 32 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals to lead Davidson to an 84-69 SoCon victory over The Citadel before a crowd of 5,336 Saturday night at McAlister Field House. Andrew Lovedale added 10 points and five rebounds, and theWildcat bench outscored The Citadel’s bench 21-5.Will Archambault led the way with 11 points and five rebounds.

Max Paulhus Gosselin contributed eight points and five rebounds for Davidson, and Steve Rossiter scored seven points. Davidson started the second half with a 16-4 run to turn an eight-point lead into a 59-39 advantage.Curry had eight points during the run, and Lovedale added six. The Bulldogs whittled the margin down to 14 on two occasions but could get no closer.

Davidson’s Stephen Curry leads the nation in scoring with 29.4 points per game after leading the team with 32 points on Saturday in an 84-69 win at The Citadel. While Curry roams the perimeter with 6.8 assists and 4 rebounds per game, Andrew Lovedale nearly averages a double-double in the post with 12.7 points and 9.1 rebounds per contest. Lovedale leads the team with 1.1 blocks per game after swatting three on Saturday.

Junior guard Will Archambault averages 9.6 points off the bench for the Wildcats and is a 42% shooter from three-point range. Redshirt junior forward Steve Rossiter averages six points and six rebounds per contest, while junior guard Bryant Barr averages around eight points per game.
For ASU to pull off the home victory tonight, Isaac Butts will need to have a great game in the post. He averages nearly a double-double for the Mountaineers, but has only amassed just under seven points and four rebounds in the past three games.

Ryann Abraham set a new career high with 21 points in the loss to UNCG on Saturday, but the Mountaineers made just 3-of-9 field goals in the extra period as the team was dealt its first oCon loss of the season.

Kellen Brand averages 12.7 points per game to lead the Apps, while Isaac Butts is the top rebounder with an average of 9.2 per game, tied for the second most in the league.

The biggest key of course to defeating Davidson is containing Stephen Curry. He scored 38 points for a Holmes Center record two years ago at ASU, but if the Mountaineers will make him work for his points while limiting his supporting cast, the Black and Gold have a shot at snapping the Wildcats' conference win streak.

We'll be blogging LIVE updates tonight as the Mountaineers host the Wildcats in Boone.
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7:00 PM - We're LIVE from Holmes Convocation Center where the Mountaineer women just defeated the UNCG Lady Spartans 73-68. The night cap of tonight's twin bill between Davidson & ASU will tip off around a half hour from now.

7:20 PM - Both teams have cleared the floor after warmups. We're waiting for the teams to take the floor to get this one underway. On a side note, it's great to see the Holmes Center close to capacity. It would be awesome it if were like this more often.

7:30 PM - Time to tip this one off!!!

7:45 PM - first media tineout at 15:47. Davidson leads it 8-4 early. Stephen Curry has a three-pointer but has missed a couple of open opportunities. Max Paulhus Gosselin also has a '3'. Kellen Brand has all four points for ASU thus far.

7:49 PM - Davidson still leads 9-4, but the Mountaineers drew a second foul on Stephen Curry prior to the media timeout. 11:58 remaining in the half.

7:52 PM - Coach Houston Fancher takes a 30 second timeout with 11:15 to go. Andrew Lovedale just hit an inside jumper to give the Wildcats an 11-4 lead. ASU is struggling from the field thus far, shooting 1 for 12 to start the game. Mountaineers have got to start heating up to stay in this one.

7:55 PM - ASU has to take another 30 second timeout after a pair of threes by Gosselin and a three from Brendan McKillop. Davidson has built its lead to 19-7 at the 8:42 mark of the first half. The Mountaineers have intentionally tried to slow the game down with no luck to this point.

8:00 PM - Under 8 minute media timeout, and Davidson leads 19-9. Curry has been on the bench since the 12 minute mark and the Wildcats have added to its lead. ASU is struggling mightily to score and needs to find some consistency, especially from the perimeter. ASU is 4 for 21 in the game, and a paltry 1 of 8 from 3-point range thus far in the half.

8:10 PM - ASU has cut the lead to five at 25-20 at the 3:46 mark of the first half. Curry remains on the bench with two fouls, and Max Gosselin has also picked up his second foul. ASU had had a couple of charges called on them in the half.

8:15 PM - It's halftime at the Black Hole and the Mountaineers trail it, but only by three at 33-30. Stephen Curry has seven points in the half, while Kellen Brand leads the Mountaineers with 12 points. We'll have more halftime stats as they become available.

The halftime entertainment with a trio of frisbee catching dogs was highly entertaining!

Your halftime statistics...

DAVIDSON:
Andrew Lovedale - 6 pts., 4 rebounds
Max Paulhus Gosselin - 9 pts., 4 rebounds
Bryant Barr - 2 pts.
Stephen Curry - 7 points on 3 of 7 shooting from the field, 3 assists
Brendan McKillop - 5 points
Will Archambault - 4 points, 4 rebounds

ASU:
Isaac Butts: 4 points, 3 rebounds
Ryann Abraham: 10 points 3 steals
Eduardo Bermudez - 2 points, 4 rebounds
Kellen Brand - 12 points
Marcus Wright - 2 points

Davidson shot 14 of 34 FG for 41.2%
ASU was 11 of 23 FG for 47.8% and made 6 of 7 free throws in the half

Second half action is set to begin!!

8:40 PM - First media timeout of the second half with 15:55 left. Davidson leads 39-33. Curry has 11 points, but has also picked up his third foul in the contest. Kellen Brand hit a 3-pointer for his fifteenth point of the game. Appalachian is being more active on the offensive end, but Curry has no conscience as he will shoot from any spot on the perimeter if given the slightest opening.

8:43 PM - Eddie Bermudez draws the fourth foul on Stephen Curry with 15:11 remaining in the game. We'll see how long Coach McKillop keeps his key player on the bench this half with Davidson leading 42-33.

8:50 PM - 11:29 remains in the game and the Wildcats lead 47-39. Matt McKillop scored one three-pointer off at least four screens. Max Paulhus Gosselin has 12 points to lead the Wildcats on the floor. Brand has picked up another pair of field goals for 19 in the game, while Abraham is ASU's second leading scorer with 10 points. No other player has more than four points for the Mountaineers.

8:57 PM - A Bryant Barr three-pointer pushes the Davidson lead up to 52-39 and forces Coach Fancher to take a quick timeout, all while the Wildcats play without Stephen Curry who is saddled with four fouls on the bench. 8:32 remains in the game and the Apps have possession.

9:00 PM - As we hit the top of the hour, we get to the under 8 minute media timeout. ASU used a timeout briefly after they couldn't get the basketball in bounds. They turn it over on the in-bounds play and Davidson converts an alley-oop dunk to Gosselin. The Wildcats lead it 54-42 at the 7:37 mark. Still no Curry, still no consistent second half offensive spurt from the Mountaineers while he is on the bench. On a side note, Appalachian has been playing without Marcus Wright, who turned his ankle in the first half and is sitting with a boot on at the end of the bench.

9:05 PM - Another timeout on the floor after two straight Archambault three pointers with a Butts hook shot for ASU in between. Davidson leads 60-44 with 6:18 to go. App needs a number of stops defensively to cut into the lead, but have thus far not shown the ability to do so.

9:10 PM - Curry returns to the game just under the six minute mark and hits a jumper immediately. He then hits another three-pointer from the wing with Butts jumping out at him. 65-44 Wildcats with 4:39 left...the biggest lead in the game, and ASU takes a timeout.

Curry has 16 for the game. An underlying theme in this second half has been ASU's inability to put together a number of defensive stops and a scoring run with consistency. Also, the Mountaineers are not helping themselves as they are shooting 0 for 6 from the free throw line in the half and 6 of 13 for the game.

9:15 PM - At the final media timeout with officially 3:55 left in the contest, ASU trails 65-48 to Davidson. Isaac Butts has hit double-figures with 10 points, the third Mountaineer with double-figures for the game.

Curry, Archambault, Paulhus Gosselin, and Brendan McKillop have all reached double-figures for the Wildcats.

**We've just been told at Press Row that tonight's game has set a new attendance record at the Holmes Center with 8,350, breaking the earlier record set in Appalachian's first-ever game when it hosted the Tar Heels of North Carolina in November, 2003.

Davidson leads 67-50 with 1:30 and counting to go. Despite the score, many fans have remained through the duration of the game. Coach McKillop takes a quick timeout to take out Curry, who finishes the night with only 16 points while plagued with foul trouble. Jeremi Booth ends the game with a dunk, but the Wildcats take the win by the final score of 70-52.