(courtesy ASU Sports Information)SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Donald Sims (Gaffney, S.C./Fork Union) averaged 27.5 points in two games and led Appalachian to a pair of home wins and was named the Southern Conference Player of the Week for the second-straight time and third time this season, the league office announced on Tuesday.
The Gaffney, S.C. native scored 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting against Davidson. He sank both three-point attempts and all five foul shots to help the Mountaineers (16-10, 10-4 SoCon) to their first season sweep of the Wildcats since 2000-01. He added three rebounds, two steals and a season-high four assists in the contest.
The junior followed Thursday’s performance with 30 points on Saturday night against Georgia Southern. He was 11-of-14 from the field, 3-of-5 from downtown, and sank all five free throws to extend his season-long streak to 28-straight from the charity stripe. He grabbed five rebounds and dished out an assist.
Additionally, Sims became just the 17th player in program history to score 500 points in a season, as he currently has 516. He ranks 13th on the single season scoring list for Appalachian, just eight points away from 10th place.
Sims leads the SoCon with 19.8 points per game and is tops in the nation in free throw percentage, at 95.5. His 3.0 three-pointers per game also lead the conference.
It is the third honor for Sims this season, and fourth of his career. For the Black and Gold, only Darryl Robinson won more SoCon Player of the Week honors, picking up the award five times from 1976-78. Sims is the league’s only three-time winner this season and the only player to win the award in consecutive weeks.
Sims is just the second SoCon player since 2005-06 to win the award back-to-back, as Davidson’s Stephen Curry accomplished the feat five times from 2006-09.
In a battle between division leaders, Appalachian heads to Charleston on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. meeting with the Cougars.
Other top performers in the Southern Conference included College of Charleston’s Donavan Monroe, The Citadel’s Cameron Wells, Elon’s Adam Constantine, Furman’s Jordan Miller, Georgia Southern’s Colby Wohlleb, Samford’s Josh Davis, Western Carolina’s Brandon Giles and Wofford’s Tim Johnson.
SoCon Men’s Basketball Player of the Week
Nov. 17 - Josh Bonney, Elon
Nov. 24 - Amu Saaka, Furman
Dec. 1 - Noah Dahlman, Wofford
Dec. 8 - Jeremy Simmons, Coll. of Charleston
Dec. 15 - Mike Williams, Western Carolina
Dec. 22 - Noah Dahlman, Wofford
Jan. 5 - Andrew Goudelock, Coll. of Charleston
Jan. 12 - Donald Sims, Appalachian State
Jan. 19 - Cameron Wells, The Citadel
Jan. 26 - Andrew Goudelock, Coll. of Charleston
Feb. 2 - Ty Patterson, Chattanooga
Feb. 9 - Donald Sims, Appalachian State
Feb. 16 - Donald Sims, Appalachian State
