AJT Sports LIVE FROM...HOLMES CONVOCATION CENTER (Elon vs. ASU)

UPDATE #9: ASU wins it 76-64 over Winthrop for its 12th win of the season. Butts finished with 15 points and unofficially 15 rebounds. Solid non-conference win for the Mountaineers.

UPDATE #8: ASU holds a 70-62 lead with 3:15 left to play. Morgan has scored 22 for the Eagles, while Neal has come alive for ASU with six in the half, along with seven points from Healy.

UPDATE #7: Winthrop has made it a ballgame, taking a 58-57 lead  with 7:43 to play. Following a timeout, ASU answers with a Neal three-pointer to regain the lead with under seven minutes to play. ASU leads 60-58 with 6:50 to play in the game. Morgan leads WU with 20 points, while Carter leads ASU with 15 points. ASU is only 7-of-19 shooting from the field in the second half, while Winthrop has made 10-for 23 shots.

UPDATE #6: ASU leads 49-44 with 15:54 to play. Butts already has a double-double for the game with 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Middleton continues to lead Winthrop with 13 points.

UPDATE #5: ASU leads Winthrop 41-35 at halftime. Hamilton has scored nine points, but Carter and Butts each have 11 points to pace ASU. Middleton and Morgan has combined for 24 of Winthrop's 35 first-half points.

UPDATE #4:  ASU's lead has been trimmed from 24-10 to 34-28 with 3:43 to play in the half. Middleton has remained in the game for Winthrop and has scored 10 points, with nine from Morgan. Butts leads ASU with 11 points, with 10 from Carter and five points from Tab Hamilton. Winthrop has shot 50 percent from the floor, while ASU is at 48 percent.

UPDATE #3: ASU leads 28-17 with 7:35 left in the opening half. Carter and Butts have combined for 19 points, while ASU has dominated the rebounding margin 17-6 thus far. Reggie Middleton has five points for Winthrop, but also has two fouls.

UPDATE #2: At the 11:28 mark of the first half, the Mountaineers hold an early 21-8 lead. Carter has 10 points already for ASU, with six points from Butts. Matt Morgan paces Winthrop with five points.

UPDATE #1:  Ike Butts has been a FORCE so far in the opening four minutes, as has Omar Carter has eight points, with four points and six rebounds by Butts in the opening five minutes. ASU leads 14-4 at the 14:16 mark of the first half.

We are LIVE from Holmes Convocation Center in Boone for today's Sears Bracketbusters men's college basketball game between Winthrop (11-17) and ASU (11-15).

Today is Senior Day at The Rock, as Isaac Butts, Omar Carter, Petey Hausley and Andre Williamson suit up for the final time to play before the home crowd. ASU hopes to build momentum off its 79-70 victory Wednesday against Chattanooga, while Winthrop is reeling, having lost three of its last four, including a 48-45 loss to Presbyterian last Tuesday, Feb. 14.

Freshman Mike Neal poured in a career-best 23 points along with five rebounds and three assists. The point guard has led ASU in scoring in each of the last three games.

Andre Jones scores 16.9 out of Winthrop's 63.9 points per game, while Reggie Middleton also reaches double figures at 12.2 points per game.  George Valentine adds 7.9 rebounds, 8.8 points and more than a block per game.

ASU improved to 4-1 in the all-time series with the Eagles following a 70-51 win in 2009-10. Led by 20 points from Jeremi Booth, the Mountaineers cruised to a 70-39 lead with five minutes to play in the game
before going cold and allowing Winthrop to score the game’s final 12 points.

Isaac Butts notched a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds in the contest, while Andre Williamson hauled in 10 rebounds of his own against the eventual Big South Conference champion.

We'll be providing updates throughout the game, scheduled to tip off at 2 p.m. Thanks for reading!

Four Vikings Compete at 1A Western Regionals

A quartet of wrestlers, Justin Gragg, Harley Rash, Zac Freeman and Josh Gragg, are wrestling this weekend at the 1A Western Regional tournament at Isothermal Community College in Forest City. Justin Gragg won his first match, while Rash defeated his opponent by pinfall. Freeman and Josh Gragg came up short in their first bouts, but all four wrestlers return on Saturday to compete in the hopes of earning a berth in the 1A state wrestling championships in Greensboro next weekend.

AJ-T Sports LIVE FROM.... HOLMES CONVOCATION CENTER (ASU v. Chattanooga)

UPDATE #11: ASU puts together a strong performance en route to a SoCon win by the final score of 79-70. The Mountaineers will host Winthrop in an ESPN Bracketbusters game this Saturday, Feb. 21, at 2 p.m. at Holmes Center. Thanks for reading!

UPDATE #10: ASU leads 76-65 with 1:13 to play. A pair of Neal free throws pushes the Mountaineers lead back over double-figures. ASU has stalled with the ball offensively for the past three possessions. The Mocs have only drawn within nine points only in the second half.

UPDATE #9: ASU's lead stands at 12 points at 71-59 with 3:51 remaining in the game. Mike Neal has 19 points to lead the Apps, with eight points from Tab Hamilton. Mitch Woods has chipped in with seven points, all in the second half. The Mocs has used the free throw line to slowly cut the lead without loss of time.

UPDATE #8: The Mountaineers lead has slipped to 61-49 with 8:05 to play, prompting a Mountaineer timeout, after what has amounted to a 20-10 scoring run.

UPDATE #7: ASU leads 57-40 with 11:57 to play in the game. An 11-6 mini-run by UTC has cut the ASU 22-point margin to 17. Ronrico White has a pair of three-pointers for UTC, as the Mocs have finally begun to warm up from the field, improving on a percentage that hovered around the 25-percent mark. ASU's defense has been tough, adding seven total blocks in the contest to its defensive effort.

UPDATE #6: ASU picked up where it left off to start the second half, outscoring UTC 11-6 over the first 3:13 of the second half. Mike Neal has 14 points, while Mitch Woods has a couple of baskets in the early going of the second 20 minutes.

UPDATE #5: At the half, ASU leads UTC 40-25. Jamaal Trice scored eight points in the half, with seven points from Healy and Neal. Zlovaric leads the Mocs with 10 points.

ASU shot 45.7 percent from the field in the first half, including 6-for-13 from three-point range. The Mocs converted only 9 of 34 shots for the first 20 minutes, including 4-of-16 from three-point range.

ASU committed just five turnovers in the half, compared to six for Chattanooga. ASU leads UTC 8-0 in fast break points, with an 18-6 advantage in bench points.

UPDATE #4: A 12-1 ASU run over the past 3:42 extends the Mountaineers lead to 35-20 with 3:45 remaining in the half. ASU has  drained six-three point baskets thus far in 11 shots. Healy leads the Mountaineers with seven points, with six from Jamaal Trice and Mike Neal.

UPDATE #3: With 7:27 to play in the first half, ASU leads 23-19. Healy leads the Apps with five points, with four from Hausley. Zlovaric has paced the Mocs with eight points, with six points from Hampton. ASU has shot slightly more than 47 percent thus far (9-19), while the Mocs are shooting just 31 percent (7-22).

UPDATE #2: ASU leads 14-12. UTC missed 10 of its first 11 shots to start the game, but a pair of Dontay Hampton three-pointers drew the Mocs within one. A basket each from Ike Butts and Omar Carter helped the Mountaineers keep its margin.

UPDATE #1: ASU leads 7-4 after the first four minutes of action. Mike Neal has a three-pointer, with buckets from Ike Butts and Petey Hausley.

Drazen Zlovaric has all four points thus far for the Mocs.

We're LIVE at Appalachian State for another evening of Southern Conference men's basketball, as the Mountaineers host Northern Division foe Chattanooga. 

The Mountaineers (10-15, 6-9 SoCon) is coming off a difficult 66-64 loss to Wofford, while Chattanooga (10-17, 4-10 SoCon) is looking to bounce back from a loss to UNC-Greensboro.

The Mountaineers fell by just two points in the first meeting against UTC, 65-63, at McKenzie Arena last month. It was the 10th-straight home win in the series between the two perennial SoCon North contenders.

Omar Wattad leads the Mocs with 13.4 points per game and 39.1 percent shooting from downtown. Ricky Taylor (13.2) and Drazen Zlovaric (10.6) also score in double figures for UTC, whose offense runs through Keegan Bell. Bell leads the SoCon with 6.4 assists per contest.

Last month’s 65-63 setback at Chattanooga marked the 10th straight win by the home team in the series. The Mocs hold a 42-29 advantage in the long-running series. 

Below are the current standings in the Southern Conference:

We'll be here throughout the evening with game updates. Thanks for reading!