Published: 12:36 AM, 11/29/2009

Last updated: 7:46 PM, 11/29/2009

By: Steve Behr Sports Editor

By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

Appalachian State had been down the road of overtime before, but could not beat Arkansas. Faced with overtime again, the Mountaineers beat a team that beat Arkansas.

Appalachian State got a clutch 3-point shot from Jeremi Booth to tie Morgan State, and then nailed 8-of-10 foul shots in the overtime period to beat the Bears 93-92 in front of 1,576 fans at the Holmes Center Saturday night.

Morgan State (4-2), which beat Arkansas 97-94 on Nov. 24, held an 80-75 lead with 38.7 seconds left after Reggie Holmes hit one of two free throws.

But Appalachian State (3-3) responded with a 3-pointer from Donald Sims, and a foul shot by Sims on the Mountaineers' next two possessions to close to within 80-79. After Troy Smith canned two free throws for Morgan State, Jeremi Booth nailed a 3-pointer from the left side of the court to tie the game at 82-82 with .7 seconds left in regulation.

"Sims got me the ball and I was open," Booth said. "I let it go and fortunately it went in."

Morgan State coach Todd Bozeman blamed a mental breakdown on defense as the reason Booth was open along the perimeter. The Bears guarded Sims, but backed off of Booth when he got the ball.

"We were backing off the guy at the end there," Bozeman said. "We generally are pretty good at guarding the 3-point line. But to be backing off the guy, it's like a sin in our book. We backed off and that's a mental breakdown. Basically we relaxed."

Mountaineers coach Buzz Peterson said the Mountaineers had designed a play for Sims, but the Bears took it away.

"Eighty percent of the time those plays never work," Peterson said. "It's not about coaching. It's about players making plays. We were able to put one out there and I told them, 'don't be happy to be in the overtime. Let's try to win the ballgame.'"

From there, after a Sims 3-pointer with 4:10 left in the overtime period, the Mountaineers' foul shooting kept them in the game. Andre Williamson drained four straight, and the one out of two, to lead the Mountaineers to the win. His foul shot with 16.5 seconds left gave them a 93-92 lead.
Appalachian State made 1-of-6 from the field in the overtime period.

"Andre needed that," Peterson said. "He needed some confidence. It was good it happened to him. Booth needed it too. We've been looking for Booth to step up. He's very talented and we started him tonight because of the way he's worked in practice and we felt like he deserved it. To see him hit that shot, I hope these guys can build off that with some confidence."

Morgan State still had 16.5 seconds to work with following Booth's shot. Bears sharpshooter Reggie Holmes got a good look at the basket when he took a jumper from the corner.

However, his 3-pointer missed, and the Bears knocked the rebound out of bounds with .5 seconds left in the game. Nathan Healy inbounded to Marcus Wright to end the game.

"It was a great look," Holmes said. "I was wide open."

Holmes led all scorers with 23 points, while teammate Kenny Thompson added 21 points and pulled down 15 rebounds. The Bears shot 48 percent from the field and made three of their six shots in the overtime period.

Appalachian State had six players score in double figures led by Sims with 19 points. Sims had just six points at with 7:39 left in the game, but nailed three of his five 3-point goals afterward.

Isaac Butts, on 7-of-10 shooting, added 14 points and also pulled down 13 rebounds. Williams, who made 9-of-10 free throws, added 13 points off the bench, while Booth and Kellen Brand both scored 12 points.

The Mountaineers, sparked by Williamson, made 20-of-27 from the foul line compared to 15-of-27 shooting by Morgan State.

Appalachian State helped itself by turning the ball over just 12 times, which led to 12 Morgan State points. The Mountaineers overcame that by scoring 10 points off nine Morgan State turnovers, and by scoring 19 points off of fast breaks.

"What we tried to do was get easy baskets off transition," Peterson said. "That's one thing we were trying to do."

Appalachian State 93, Morgan State 92

Morgan State (4-2)
Jackson 5-10 1-3 14, Thompson 9-18 3-6 21, Stokes 6-11 0-1 12, Holmes 8-17 5-8 23, Thomas 1-2 0-1 2, Davis 4-8 0-0 8, Smith 2-7 2-2 6, Ali 1-2 4-4 6, Long 0-0 0-0 0,Foote 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 36-75 15-25 92.

Appalachian State (3-3)
Hunter 1-1 0-1 2, Butts 7-10 0-0 14, Sims 6-15 2-2 19, Booth 3-10 5-6 12, Brand 5-8 2-4 12, Abraham 4-8 1-2 10, Healy 2-8 1-2 6, Wright 1-3 0-0 2, Highsmith 0-0 0-00,Webb 1-1 0-0 3, Nirenberg 0-1 0-0 0, Williamson 2-4 9-10 13. Totals 32-69 20-27 93.

Halftime score-Morgan State 37, ASU 34. End of regulation: Tied at 82-82. 3-point goals-MSU 5-17 (Jackson 3-4, Holmes 2-8, Smith 0-4, Davis 0-1, Stokes 0-1); ASU 9-22 (Sims 5-13, Healy 1-1, Webb 1-1, Abraham 1-3, Booth 1-4). Rebounds-MSU 42 (Thompson 15); ASU 46 (Butts 13). Assists-MSU 20 (Thomas 10), ASU 22 (Booth, Abraham 5). Turnovers-MSU 9, ASU 12. Total fouls-MSU 23, ASU 20. Fouled out-MSU, Jackson, Stokes; ASU, Butts, Abraham. Technical fouls-None. A-1,576.

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