By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — It is why they play the full 40 minutes of college basketball. Pesky defense to force turnovers late in the second half along with a strong scoring surge allowed Appalachian State to rally from a 9-point deficit to win in overtime over North Carolina Central, 79-74, on Nov. 10 at the Holmes Convocation Center.
After setting a single-game scoring record against a clearly outmatched Warren Wilson College three nights earlier, expectations were high among the 2,145 mostly Mountaineer fans scattered about the arena just before a holiday weekend. The key question: how would the revamped Mountaineers do against a NCAA Division I opponent?
Answer: pretty well. NC Central may well compete in the shadow of another Durham-based team that rhymes with “Luke,” but the Eagles are hardly a pushover. Earlier in the week, NCCU rallied from a 16-point first half deficit to lead No. 18-ranked Virginia in the second half before succumbing to a late, 15-2 Cavalier run, losing 73-61.
Fast forward to the Holmes Center and the scenario was eerily similar. The Mountaineers jumped out to an early lead and looked to pull away, but the Eagles tied the game at 13-13 with 9:21 remaining in the first half when App State couldn’t seem to buy a basket. The Mountaineers’ long distance attempts repeatedly clanged off the rim into the waiting arms of an Eagle rebounder. NCCU outrebounded the Mountaineers on this night, 42-33.
Meanwhile, led by Eagles starter Justin Wright and teammate Devin Butts coming off the bench to score 9 and 7 first half points, respectively — along with 6 first half rebounds by Cameron Butler of App State shots gone awry — NC Central led by five at the break, 33-28.
Part of the reason App State seemed out of sync early on was perhaps explained by senior forward Donovan Gregory’s exiting early in the first half, sitting on the bench in foul trouble. After things looked bleak for the Mountaineers when NCCU expanded the lead to 9 points just two minutes into the second half, Gregory looked to take charge. He helped eat into the Eagles’ lead, although NCCU always seemed to answer back. The visitors led by 8 with 11:16 remaining and expanded it to a 9-point advantage again at the 8:09 mark.
That is where the Mountaineers took control. Forcing Eagle turnovers and converting them into points on the offensive end, the Mountaineers found knew life. While 3-pointers by junior C J Huntley kept a potential rally viable in the early going, it was Gregory, sophomore guard Terence Harcum, and graduate transfer Tyree Boykin (Union University) who keyed the offensive resurgence to tie the game at 54-54 with under six minutes to play in regulation.
NCCU edged back ahead on a foul shot and then a fast break dunk by athletic center Brendan Medley-Bacon receiving a nifty, underhanded pass from beneath the basket by guard Eric Boone, to lead 57-54, but when App State’s own big man, freshman Justin Abson answered with a dunk of his own on the other end, it was “game on” for the Mountaineers.
Gradually, App State inched ahead, but led by only three points with seconds remaining. Only a desperation buzzer beater seemingly from Valle Crucis by the Eagles’ Wright as time expired sent the game into overtime.
For the extra five minute period of OT, App State dominated from the outset, at one point leading by 7 points thanks to Boykin and a couple of thundering 3-pointers from the corner by Huntley that got the Holmes Center rockin’.
After the game, Mountaineer head coach Dustin Kerns had nothing but compliments for the gritty performance of North Carolina Central, as well as the resilience of his App State team.
“That is a really great win for our team,” said Kerns. “I am really proud of our team. I thought we made some tough plays down the stretch on both ends.”
Kerns particularly noted the contributions of Gregory, offensively, even when he didn’t have the ball. As an example, he suggested that Gregory’s setting screens at the top of the key actually was the start of 3-pointers by Huntley from the corner, allowing him to get open.
The 2022-23 version of the Mountaineers seem to have a lot of interchangeable parts, with a lot of new faces after losing 2021-22 seniors Justin Forrest, Michael Almonacy, Adrian Delph and James Lewis, Jr.
Asked by High Country Sports about the expected rotation and roster depth this year, Kerns said, “I think we are going to go 10-deep every night. There will be nights (certain) players… will play more. I think the strength of our team now is our depth. It may be different people every night. We found a group of guys that were really playing well together, but those other guys will be in there on any given night.”
App State’s next test will be at Louisville on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 6 p.m., broadcast on the ACC Network/ESPN.
SELECTED TEAM STATS
- Field Goal % – NCCU 40%, APP 41%
- 3FG% – NCCU 36%, APP 38%
- Free Throw % – NCCU 85%, APP 65%
- Turnovers – NCCU 14, APP 8
- Total Rebounds – NCCU 42, APP 33
- Offensive Rebounds – NCCU 7, APP 6
- Bench Points – NCCU 24, APP 15
- Fast Break Points – NCCU 8, APP 2
- Blocked Shots – NCCU 2, APP 8
- Time in Lead – NCCU 24:40, APP 17:23
SELECTED INDIVIDUAL STATS
- APP – CJ Huntley: 9 rebounds, 18 points, 1 steal, 1 block
- APP – Tyree Boykin: 20 points, 3 assists, 1 block, 1 steal
- APP – Donovan Gregory: 12 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals
- APP – Terence Harcum: 14 points, 1 block, 3 assists
- APP – Justin Abson: 5 blocks, 8 rebounds, 6 points
- NCCU – Justin Wright: 17 points, 6 rebounds
- NCCU – Eric Boone: 8 rebounds, 10 points, 2 steals
- NCCU – Brendan Medley-Bacon: 16 points, 2 blocks
- NCCU – Devin Gordon: 10 points, 6 rebounds
