The Cougars dropped both of their games against the Mountaineers this year: @ Kresse they lost 57-68 and at App the Cougars lost 56-67. In the December 2, 2006 game, Dontaye Draper was held to 5-points all from the charity-stripe. In the last meeting between the two schools, Dontaye scored 3-points (from behind the arc) in 33-minutes of play. (Photo courtesy of SoCon Sports.com)
Draper knows that he has to shake those Mountaineer blues if the Cougars are to advance this evening to tomorrow's Championship game. If you watched the last game at Appalachian State, you are well aware that Draper was cold, but so wasn't the rest of the squad. Dontaye made great dishes, but the Cougs (shooting 34.5% from the field, 22.7% from behind the arc and 65% from the charity-stripe) couldn't get the ball to drop. Philip and Josh both ended with 12-points for the game. All Conference 3rd Team honoree, David Lawrence had 9-points and Jermaine added 6. Marcus Hammond had 4-points against App and Tony White Jr and Taurus both finished with 3-points.
Although Appalachian State's starting forward Nathan Crawford is 3-days out of practice and inflicted with a virus, the Mountaineers' bench picked up the slack last night against Western Carolina. The University of Virginia transfer, Donte Minter, scored 11-points and had 5-boards, Doug McLaughlin-Williams scored 12-points with 6-rebounds and Eduardo Bermudez added 11-points coming off the bench. With 15-points, D.J. Thompson was the only starter to score double-digits.
The Cougars have an excellent opportunity to break the 3-game losing streak the Mountaineers have imposed and can catch the Mountaineers looking past this game to the Media's darling match-up with Davidson for the SoCon Title. As Coach Cremins said, "Everyone wants to see a Davidson vs. App. State final, but we have other plans." The Cougars need a big game from Dontaye Draper tonight and even a bigger game from the big men down in the paint. If they do so, they can contain the Mountaineers and play tomorrow for a ticket to the Big Dance!
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