DAVIDSON, N.C. - Donald Sims scored a career-high 44 points as Appalachian State University men’s basketball overcame an early 12-point deficit to defeat Davidson, 78-68, at Belk Arena on Saturday afternoon.
The Mountaineers (8-7, 2-2 SoCon) shot 53.2 percent from the field and 46.7 percent from downtown in the win.
Sims scored 21 points in the first half as the Mountaineers closed the opening period on a 14-3 run to take a 37-35 advantage to the locker room.
The Apps extended the advantage to seven points at 57-50 before the Wildcats (7-9, 2-2) made their move and regained a one-point lead with seven minutes left on the clock.
From there, ASU went on a 17-3 run to put the game away at 78-65 before a Davidson trey closed the margin to 10 points in the waning seconds of the game.
Isaac Butts returned to form down low, as the big man scored 13 points and added 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. He was 6-of-7 from the field and swatted both of the team’s blocks.
Accompanying Butts in the post, Josh Hunter pulled in seven rebounds and scored one point, while holding DC’s starting forwards to 10 points on 4-of-15 shooting for the game.
Sims’ total was the fourth-highest in school history and the most since Stan Davis set the record with 56 points against Carson-Newman in 1974.
He sank 13-of-19 field goal attempts and 5-of-7 threes. The junior guard also found his way to the free throw a career-best 13 times, where he was perfect.
Once Davidson began to bear down on the sharp-shooter, the floor opened up for Kellen Brand to score 12 points on 3-of-7 shooting. Brand came off the bench after starting 46-consecutive games and added three rebounds and a steal in 29 minutes on the floor.
Starting in his place, Marcus Wright contributed four points with an assist and a steal.
The Appalachian defense held Bob McKillop’s squad to 38.7 percent shooting and 11-of-30 from downtown. DC hurt its own cause by sinking just 9-of-18 free throws.
JP Kuhlman led the Wildcats with 18 points and four rebounds, while three other starters also reached double-figure points. Appalachian held a 39-25 advantage on the boards to snap a four-game losing streak against Davidson.
The loss was just the second of the season at home for DC, who is 42-6 at home over the last four seasons. Appalachian dealt DC its only home loss in the 2006-07 season.
Appalachian returns home to host Elon on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
