By David Rogers. February 2, 2012. BOONE -- Appalachian State hosted Samford University in men's basketball Thursday night, and both teams looked like what they are: two squads duking it out for THIRD PLACE in the SoCon North Division standings and -- maybe -- an opportunity to vie for the "up for grabs" division title.  On this night, Samford "outlasted" the Mountaineers, 53-52.

For as ragged as this game was for most of its duration, it featured an exciting finish -- and one that was not decided until the last half-second.

With 1:19 remaining, the Bulldogs crawled out to a 51-47 lead when 6-6 senior starting guard Jeffrey Merritt hit a jumper from just outside the key. On the ensuing Mountaineer possession, Omar Carter ripped a three-pointer from the left side, pulling ASU back to within a point with 56 seconds remaining.  Samford used up 21 seconds before the Bulldogs' redshirt freshman, Tyler Hood (game-high 18 points), missed a three-point attempt with 32 seconds remaining. ASU point guard Mike Neal came down with the rebound, but with 24 seconds remaining, Omar Carter leaped high to take a pass in the left corner, falling backwards, and made a wild fling across the court in trying to save the possession.

On the inbounds pass, Carter immediately fouled Bulldog guard Rajon Kelly, who made both ends of his 1-1 free throws, making the score 53-50.

Appalachian's fate looked grim, because with team fouls to spare before sending Mountaineer players to the charity stripe, Samford fouled and fouled and fouled -- eating away at the precious seconds lingering on the clock. Mountaineer junior forward Nate Healy (team-high 14 points) missed a desperate three-pointer (the cover shot, above). Senior forward Andre Williamson secured the carom off the rim, and was fouled by Samford's 6-9 sophomore center, Drew Windler, with nine seconds left. Williamson missed the first of his 1 and 1 free throws, and Hood secured the rebound and, apparently, the visitors' victory. Hood was fouled by Healy with seven seconds remaining but, like ASU's Williamson, the Bulldog missed his first free throw. Healy retrieved the rebound, and with virtually no time on the clock, ASU long-distance ace Tab Hamilton III made a desperate three-point attempt that would have tied the game and sent it into overtime -- but missed.  

But the game was not quite over.  One of the officials whistled a foul on Samford's Merritt while Hamilton was in the act of shooting, so the freshman Mountaineer (and the team's 4th best free throw shooter) was awarded three shots from the charity stripe.  Make all three, and the game is tied and into overtime. Miss one, and a loss is all but certain.

The referees put one-half second back on the clock.  Hamilton made his first, but missed his second. Knowing that the Mountaineers' only remaining chance to win was for the third free throw to miss and get a put-back offensive rebound, head coach Jason Capel inserted senior 6-10 big man Isaac Butts, but Hamilton's final attempt banked off the glass and into the hoop to narrow the deficit to just one point. Samford simply heaved the ball long down the court, burning the half second, then skidaddled off the floor with the victory.

"I am incredibly disappointed in our effort to start the game," Capel told reporters in the opening remarks of his post-game press conference. "I had to call a time out and raise my voice and say some things. Luckily, we went into (halftime) with a five-point lead, but we came out even more lethargic in the second half.  They had zero offensive rebounds in the first half, and they had seven in the second half.  I would hope that with eight games left in the season and a chance to win the division title, (especially) having four seniors that this is it for them, that we would have some leadership to come out and have a desire to play hard.

"I take full responsibility for that (deficiency)," the head coach flatly stated. "It is my fault. I'll devise a plan, and see if I can get the guys to play harder on Saturday."

Ironically, Samford and Appalachian seemingly used two different mindsets in their approach to this game -- but both ended up with sub-par performances.  For most of the contest, Samford whipped the ball around the court with energy in an effort to create and attack space.  While they executed some crafty "back door" and inside plays, their outside shooting was mostly off the mark after the first four minutes (during which they jumped out to a 10-4 lead).

Meanwhile, Appalachian squandered countless possessions with ill-advised passes or dribbling missteps. When not turning the ball over, they would pass the ball back and forth across the top of the key, almost as casually as two young brothers playing "catch" in the backyard, killing time before "Mom" called them in for supper.  There was relatively little movement away from the ball to help create space, and scant little effort to penetrate and attack Samford's zone defense -- until the shot clock wound down to single digits and then there would be rushed, long distance shot attempts with pressure.

For all the good things the Mountaineer faithful saw in the Holmes Center during Saturday's win vs. Elon, there was very little of it on Thursday night. "This whole year we can't seem to win two in a row and get the ball rolling," Healy told reporters following rhe game. "It is a bit aggravating. We have to figure out how to play our basketball for 40 minutes -- every night.  We have to bring that every game."

Healy actually was one of the bright spots in the Mountaineer box score, as well as in his effort and hustle throughout the game.   On top of his team-high 14 points, he accounted for six defensive rebounds, one assist and one steal in 30 minutes of playing time, a stat line that was well above his five points, 4.7 rebound average over the last three games since he began starting.

Samford head coach Jimmy Tillette explained in his post-game press conference that after the January 5th and January7th games against Appalachian State and The Citadel, respectively, the Bulldogs switched to a matchup zone defensive scheme.  It allows me an opportunity to keep my best offensive players on the court longer on the offensive end, because they are not running around the floor chasing guys on the defensive end. Since we went to it, we have won five out of seven games.  There is a multiplier effect. It allows me to keep my best offensive players on the floor. They are fresher."

With 17:33 remaining, Appalachian showed potential for breaking the game open when Hamilton slipped under the basket for a crafty reverse layup, giving the Mountaineers a seven-point lead. But not even a roar from the thin crowd (1,022) witnessing Hamilton's move could spark AppState, as lethargy seemed to settle back onto the court.

To the visitor' credit, Samford committed all eight of its turnovers in the first half and played near error-free basketball in the second even if so many of the Bulldogs' outside shots were off-target.

Elsewhere in the SoCon Thursday night, Western Carolina slipped by Chattanooga, 82-76;  Elon edged Charleston in double overtime, 99-98; and UNC-Greensboro, took advantage of The Citadel, 82-71.

With seven conference games remaining, Appalachian State's hopes are slipping away for winning the North Division title and gaining a high seed for the SoCon tournament in early March. After hosting Charleston on Saturday (2/4), they travel to Elon on Monday (2/6), then to Furman on 2/9, before returning on Saturday, 2/11, to host Wofford in an afternoon doubleheader also featuring the first-place women's team. The men face the Terriers at 2:00 pm, and the women tipoff vs. UNC-Greensboro at 4:30 pm on the 11th.

Current SoCon North Division Standings (Conference Record)

1. UNCG (7-4)

2. Elon (6-4)

T-3. Appalachian State (5-6)

T-3. Samford (5-6)

5. Western Carolina (4-7)

6. Chattanooga (3-8)

Samford 53

Appalachian State 52

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