MBB: ASU's last SoCon visit to the 'Whee

[asu66]

RPI #342 App State (7-16, 3-6 SoCon) visits RPI #237 Western Carolina (12-11, 5-3) at 2 PM in the RRAC (Ramsey Regional Activity Center) over in the 'Whee. This will be the last meeting of the two teams in the RRAC as conference mates. ASU is movin' on; and the Catamounts are pretty much stuck in time where they are.

Everybody involved, has or should have, a ton of pride on the line today. Western is having an underachieving year compared with preseason hopes and expectations. ASU is having an underachieving second decade of the century. If these two teams can't get revved up for this game, then no sports psychologist can help 'em. Not even SuperPsychs Keith Ablow and Charlie Brown.

ASU is coming off of an unimpressive home win over The Citadel; a game in which scoring was out the window. The score was 6-5 at the under 12 minute media time-out in the first half. No--that's not a typo. Western hasn't played in more than a week; losing to a decent Elon team by 14 on the road.

This is a must-have game for both teams in SoCon Tourney speak. Western can still earn a first-round bye. ASU can still avoid being the bottom seed. Western has had over a week to prepare zone defenses to throw at the Apps; and Can't guard Trey Sumler is around for what seems like his 15th season. Maybe he'll graduate some day. Western also has experienced bigs in the low blocks--in Tawaski King, Tom Tankelewicz, Josh Mendenhall and others. App State is 1-10 in ROAD games and 1-3 in SoCon AWAY games this season. Methinks that's all too much for the Apps away from home and coached by you know who. But this is Western; and I'd love to be wrong.

RealTime RPI thinks the way I do. Despite Western's long layoff, RTRPI has our Apps as losers by a mountain landslide...20 points.

This afternoon's contest marks the 185th all-time meeting between the Apps and Western - a series in which the Mountaineers hold a 116-68 edge. Appalachian owns an overall 46-26 mark in SoCon games and holds slight edge, 42-40, in games played in Cullowhee;

[asu66]

FWTR, Radio 97.3 WKBC-FM is not carrying this afternoon's basketball game. No pre-game show. No announcement. No nothing, except nice music selections. Not what I ordered!

Houston we have a problem!

[T-Dog]

FWTR, Radio 97.3 WKBC-FM is not carrying this afternoon's basketball game. No pre-game show. No announcement. No nothing, except nice music selections. Not what I ordered!

Houston we have a problem!

[eggers76]

Down 1 at the half.

[asu66]

This Houston is too far away to help.

BTW. that reminds me that a certain Buzz is presently at the 39-77 (.336) mark in four seasons with the UNC-W Seahawks with a year remaining on his $500,000 annual salary. Actually it's closer to $575,000 plus a lot of perks. Wonder if the Wilmington folks think they're getting their money's worth?

In case anyone's wondering, that record is worse than Capel's.

When will Buzzy get the ax? It'll be a shame for Houston and for Eddie Biedenbach. They just got there. Maybe one of them will get the Seahawk job when the Buzz gets swatted.

[T-Dog]

31-30 WCU at the half. 26 totla fouls, evenly split among the teams.

At one point, Toney, Scott, Kobani & Eaves were all on the court at the same time, Gilbert was also out there.

[asu66]

Our kids are hanging tough. Especially the young kids. I'm impressed with their efforts on the road.

[Gonzo]

Exciting game.

Beat the Can'ts

[asu66]

Spagnolo has 19; team down by 2

[asu66]

Tie game; true frosh Toney has been BIG for Apps

Under 2 minutes; foul on ASU

[asu66]

65 - 63 Western; 1:23 to play; ASU has the ball; Western TO Watch for the 2-3 zone again

[asu66]

65 - 63 Western; 1:23 to play; ASU has the ball; Western TO Watch for the 2-3 zone again

[asu66]

32 secs. Down 1. Western will have the ball under our basket.

[asu66]

Down 2, Hamilton on line for three. Time has virtually expired.

[asu66]

Overtime!

[Kgfish]

Lost a 4 point lead with 60 seconds left in OT. Standard Capel postgame comment "We fought hard but came up a little short." The reality is we are 3-16, 3-7 against D - I competition.

[asu66]

Not sure how a team can be up by 4 with just under 90 seconds left in overtime--only to lose by 9??????

Nevertheless, a good effort by our guys on the road.

Hate Purple!

[asu66]

TSpagnolo 23 points, 12 boards...third straight double-double...fast turning into team's MVP.

[Seattleapp]

Can we fire Capel yet?

[567app]

Not sure where you guys get that we blew the 4 point lead with 90 seconds left. Spagnolo gave us the 74-70 lead with 3 minutes left in OT.

What do you want Capel to say? Do you want him to throw players under the bus again, so you can bash him then too? They did fight/play hard. I understand he says this a lot, but today it was actually true. No matter what he says, some are going to have something negative to say about it.

Wish we could have came away with that one. I wish Spagnolo had more eligibility, or at least I wish we had more guys with his fight. I got to speak with him right before the season started and I thought he was going to do good things for us, but never imagined he would play at the level he is now. It hurts leaving 12 points at the free throw line. You can't do that on the road in a tight game. Big contributions from a number of guys in short order.