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Wednesday, 01 February 2012 22:48 |
Sixty days ago, on Dec. 1, the Appalachian State men’s basketball team pummeled UNCG and officially started a winning streak of two games - an achievement that has eluded the Mountaineers in their 14 following games.
Now ASU (9-10, 5-5) sits on the brink of winning not just two but three straight games, against the Samford Bulldogs Feb. 3 and the College of Charleston Feb. 5.
“This is a crazy year in the Southern Conference,” Capel said. “Heading into February, every game is so important and we have a chance this week with two home games to make up for some things. But we’re playing two very good teams.”
Although both teams are below ASU in the SoCon standings, the pressure is on the Mountaineers to sweep the weekend.
Still, senior Omar Carter is confident.
“I think we’re going to win,” Carter said. “What better way to do it than at home? It would be a real big confidence booster. We haven’t had a back-to-back home game in a while.”
In its previous matchup with Samford, Appalachian held onto a 68-63 win on the road. Capel believes the Bulldogs are playing much better basketball following their switch to a zone defense. But the success ASU had against Samford’s Princeton offense could translate to Thursday night’s game.
“The first matchup was some time ago and those guys are playing some really good basketball right now,” Capel said. “I thought we did a good job on their Princeton stuff. We only got beat on a few back doors.”
Saturday’s contest against Charleston could be one of the toughest of the season for the Mountaineers. Charleston averages just shy of 36 rebounds per game and has a talented front court - thanks to Antwain Wiggins and Trent Weideman, who combine for 25 points and 15 rebounds for the up-and-down Cougars.
Senior Isaac Butts believes Appalachian can control the post against the tough Charleston lineup.
“We feel like we’re the premier post team in the conference,” Butts said. “We probably have some of the best post guys. We have to play out of our minds, but we’re willing to accept that challenge.”
The two teams above Appalachian in the SoCon North, UNCG and Elon, both have two conference games this weekend as well. A loss by both of these teams and two ASU wins would put the Mountaineers in first place for the first time since their conference-opening win against UNCG.
Thursday’s game against Samford tips off at 7 p.m. and Saturday’s showdown against Charleston is 2 p.m. matinee.
Story: JAKE AMBERG, Sports Editor |
