The Buccaneers once again came up with big defensive plays and clutch free throws in the final minutes of the game to hold on for a 61-56 victory over the Appalachian State Mountaineers at Memorial Center.
The Bucs (9-7, 4-1) extended their winning streak to four games and avenged their two loses to the Mountaineers (4-14, 1-4) from last season.
The Bucs jumped out to an 8-0 lead early in the contest behind three-pointers by senior D.J. McDuffie and sophomore Ryan Lawson, and never trailed in the game.
Head Coach Ed DeChellis was pleased with the way his team came out and played early.
“I thought we played pretty well in the first half,” he said. “We played with a lot of energy and emotion.”
The Bucs dominated the first half of basketball holding Appalachian State scoreless for the first five minutes of the ballgame and causing the Mountaineers to shoot just 22 percent from the field, as they led 31-20 at the end of the half.
It looked like the Bucs would run away with the game as they came out in the second half and extended their lead to 15 points with 12:38 to play on a Lawson jumper.
After Lawson’s bucket, the Mountaineers called a timeout and seemed to be a totally different team when they returned to the floor. They went on a 9-0 run to put them right back in the game.
“When you get ahead that far, you think you don’t have to play hard, and they came back on us,” Lawson said.
The Bucs ended their scoreless stretch when junior Cliff Decoster hit two much-needed free throws putting the Bucs up seven at 46-39.
The Mountaineers, however, did not go quietly and topped off a 16-4 run getting within two points on a three-pointer by Guard Noah Brown.
Behind more clutch free throw shooting, with two by McDuffie and one by Senior Renaldo Johnson, the Bucs increased their lead back to five before the Mountaineers fought back to get within three with 2:09 to go in the game.
It was then that the smothering defense of the Bucs came up with a huge play. Freshman Jerald Fields came up with a steal off the Mountaineers Donald Payne with 45 seconds remaining in the game.
As Fields came up with the ball, he immediately passed it to Decoster, who was fouled. Decoster hit one of two free throws to put the Bucs up 58-54 with 34.2 seconds left to play, all but sealing the win for the Bucs.
The Mountaineers tried several desperation threes and sent Decoster, McDuffie and Fields to the line at different times in the final 10 seconds, with each hitting on one of their two free throw chances. Thus capped the scoring at 61-56.
DeChellis was pleased with his team’s victory, but realizes they still haven’t played well for a full 40 minutes this season.
“I think we played well in spurts, then we didn’t play well,” he said. “We played 30 good minutes of basketball, but we need to play (a good) 40 minutes.”
Fields led the Bucs in the scoring column with 14 points on four-of-four shooting from the field and six-of-11 shooting from the foul line.
Fields was joined in double digits by teammates Johnson (11), Decoster (12) and McDuffie (11).
The Bucs also received a good all-around game from Lawson who scored eight points with a team high four assists and three steals.
Forward Donald Payne was the top scorer for the Mountaineers with 12 points.
The Bucs, who sit atop the Southern Conference North Division, will be back in action Saturday at 3 p.m. against Furman in Memorial Center.

Author