Appalachian tops Robert Morris on the road

By: JournalNow Staff | JOURNAL STAFF REPORT
Published: December 20, 2009

Appalachian State snapped a 13-game home-court winning streak by Robert Morris last night, winning 65-52 at the Sewall Center.

Donald Sims led the Mountaineers with 17 points. Jeremi Booth scored 11 for the Mountaineers, who improved to 7-4. Kellen Brand added 10 points, and Isaac Butts had 11 rebounds.

The Mountaineers led by 13 points in the second half before Robert Morris rallied and cut the deficit to one point.

The Colonials scored eight points the first 10 minutes of the second half but heated up from 3-point range and used a 14-2 run to get as close as 50-49 with 5:15 left.

The Colonials (4-6) scored three points from there, hitting 1 of 12 field-goal attempts -- including 1 of 10 3-point tries -- and missing two free-throw attempts.

Booth gave the Mountaineers some breathing room with a 3-pointer with 3:40 left that increased the lead to 53-39, and the Mountaineers made 12 of 14 free-throw attempts from that point.

Karon Abraham led Robert Morris with 15 points. The Colonials shot 26 percent from the field, and 57 percent from the free-throw line.

The Mountaineers got off to a slow start, scoring on one of their first nine possessions and falling behind 9-3.

But the Colonials missed seven shots in a row and the Mountaineers caught up on Booth's jumper with 13:15 left in the first half.

Brand's back-to-back 3-pointers gave the Mountaineers the lead for good soon after, and set them on the way to a 10-0 run. The Mountaineers closed the first half by hitting four straight 3-pointers and extending their lead to 33-21.

The Apps led by as many as 13 points in the second half. Marcus Wright's 3-pointer gave the Mountaineers a 48-35 lead with eight minutes remaining.

The Apps, who played the Colonials for the first time since 2000 and stretched their series lead to 3-0, will play at Dayton on Monday night.

ASU Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A PF Pts

Williamson 14 1-2 0-0 0-6 1 4 2

Butts 35 3-5 0-2 2-11 1 2 6

Sims 35 4-8 6-6 0-2 2 1 17

Booth 25 4-11 0-0 0-0 1 1 11

Brand 30 2-8 4-6 0-6 4 2 10

Abraham 13 0-2 0-0 0-1 1 2 0

Wright 16 3-6 0-0 0-2 4 1 8

Hunter 23 2-3 3-4 1-10 2 2 7

Webb 9 2-2 0-0 1-1 1 1 4

Totals 200 21-47 13-18 7-44 17 16 65

Percentages: FG .447, FT .722. 3-Point Goals: 10-23, .435 (Sims 3-6, Booth 3-8, Wright 2-2, Brand 2-6, Abraham 0-1). Team Rebounds: 5. Blocked Shots: 5 (Butts 2, Williamson 2, Booth). Turnovers: 16 (Sims 4, Booth 3, Butts 3, Williamson 2, Brand, Wright, Hunter, Webb). Steals: 5 (Hunter 2, Sims, Abraham, Brand). Technical Fouls: None.

RMU Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A PF Pts

Robinson 28 2-8 1-2 1-4 1 2 5

Green 21 2-4 2-2 2-3 2 5 6

Nwigwe 16 1-7 0-0 2-4 2 0 2

Jones 21 2-7 0-1 0-4 1 2 5

Langhurst 32 5-14 0-0 0-4 0 0 14

Abraham 26 4-11 4-5 2-3 2 3 15

Wallace 18 0-6 1-2 1-1 0 0 1

Piehl 9 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 0

Johnson 20 2-8 0-2 7-12 2 4 4

Thompson 3 0-0 0-0 1-1 1 0 0

Whitehead 6 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Totals 200 18-69 8-14 17-40 11 17 52

Percentages: FG .261, FT .571. 3-Point Goals: 8-30, .267 (Langhurst 4-11, Abraham 3-10, Jones 1-3, Nwigwe 0-1, Johnson 0-2, Wallace 0-3). Team Rebounds: 4. Blocked Shots: 0. Turnovers: 7 (Abraham 2, Johnson 2, Piehl, Jones, Robinson). Steals: 7 (Green 3, Langhurst, Jones, Robinson, Nwigwe). Technical Fouls: None.

Appalachian. 33 32 -- 65
Robert Morris 24 28 -- 52

A--837.