BY BRIAN T. SMITH
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
Johnson City, Tenn. – ETSU senior forward Andrew Reed is almost always the first Buc to show up at practice and the last to leave.
And when no one’s looking, the 6-foot-8 Reed hoists long jump shots and 3-pointers.
Yes, he works on his post moves, dribbling skills and footwork. But in practice, Reed swishes long-range shots like he’s been doing it his whole life.
Maybe he has.
Because Reed set fire to the nets on Sunday afternoon, setting career-highs in points (24) and made 3-pointers (2) on 9-of-16 shooting, and he collected 12 rebounds while blocking two shots.
More importantly, Reed single-handedly propelled ETSU to a 72-69 victory over Appalachian State in a non-conference game before an estimated crowd of 1,750 at the Mini-Dome.
“I always knew I could shoot the 3, but sometimes it’s just not in the game plan, you know,” Reed said. “But today I guess it was. I’m gonna try and play like this every game and be more consistent and just go out there and play my hardest.”
Reed’s huge day was backed up by Buc (6-7) sophomore guard Mike Smith’s best performance of the year. Smith scored 18 points, and hit 4 of his 5 3-point attempts. And he did not shy away from acknowledging that a superstitious uniform number change – Smith swapped out No. 23 for No. 1, the number he wore as a freshman – may have given him the mental edge he lacked earlier in the season.
“That may have been it. I guess that 23 had some kind of funk in it or something. But I’m back now,” Smith said smiling.
Donald Sims scored a team-high 13 points and Doug McLaughlin-Williams added 12 points and four made 3-pointers for Appalachian State (5-6).
As a team, ETSU shot 49 percent (24 of 49) from the field and connected on 44.4 percent (8 of 18) of their 3-point attempts.
The hot shooting gave the Bucs enough buffer room to prevent a late Mountaineers rally.
Down 38-20 at halftime, Appalachian State used a late 14-0 run to pull within 68-66 with 23.6 seconds left in the second half.
Yet four straight late free throws by Smith allowed the Bucs to hold on for a much-needed victory.
“It was a good win, a good win,” said ETSU coach Murry Bartow. “Obviously it got a little scary late, and I am concerned … we’ve got to figure out how to be more consistent for 40 minutes. We played awfully well for 34 or 35 minutes.”
The game’s first four minutes, however, were filled with rust.
ETSU committed three offensive turnovers and allowed the Mountaineers to pull down four offensive rebounds, while Appalachian State missed its first 7 field-goal attempts.
The only converted field goal came on a 3-pointer from the right-center wing by Bucs senior guard Travis Strong.
It took a monster block by Kevin Tiggs – Tiggs swatted away a layup attempt by Mountaineer guard Donald Sims and the ball landed three rows back in the stands – to wake up the Bucs.
Three-pointers from Smith and Reed, and fast-break baskets by Reed and Courtney Pigram (12 points) pushed ETSU to a 15-4 advantage with 10 minutes, 48 seconds left in the first half.
Meanwhile, the Mountaineers stayed cold – Appalachian State was 1 for its first 15.
“I was disappointed with the way we started that first half,” said Mountaineers coach Houston Fancher. “I wish we’d played a whole lot better and shot the ball the way we’re capable of in the first half. It was great to see them fight back and compete – we’ve done that before – but we just didn’t have the intensity in the first half.”
The Bucs then stretched their lead to 20-10 following another 3 by Reed. And a textbook penetrate-and-dish move by Jocolby Davis set up a thunderous dunk by Reed, giving ETSU a 30-18 lead with 3:20 remaining in the first half.
A 13-3 Mountaineers run midway through the second half brought Appalachian State within 56-44 with 8:27 left in the game. The Mountaineers’ late charge was aided by their use of a half-court, man-to-man defense and a series of ETSU turnovers.
But another leaping dunk by Reed put the Bucs up 59-45. And when Reed slammed down yet another basket on ETSU’s next offensive possession, his career day and a much-needed Buc win was cemented.
All Reed could do was smile.
“I’ve been waiting a long time to do this,” Reed said.
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ETSU 72, APPALACHIAN STATE 69
ASU (5-6) - SIMS, Donald 3-10 4-4 13; McLAUGHLIN-WILLIAMS 4-7 0-0 12; BOOTH, Jeremi 3-7 0-0 9; CLAYTON, Jeremy 3-7 3-9 9; ABRAHAM, Ryann 3-5 0-0 8; MINTER, Donte 3-6 1-4 7; BRAND, Kellen 2-8 1-2 6; BERMUDEZ, Eduardo 2-6 1-2 5; BOWNE, Davis 0-0 0-0 0; BUTTS, Isaac 0-1 0-0 0; HIGHSMITH, A.J. 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-59 10-21 69.
ETSU (6-7) - REED, Andrew 9-16 4-5 24; SMITH, Mike 3-7 6-8 15; PIGRAM, Courtney 5-9 2-2 12; SWADER, Kenyona 3-6 3-4 10; TIGGS, Kevin 2-3 3-3 7; STRONG, Travis 1-5 0-0 3; DAVIS, Jocolby 0-1 1-2 1; HUBBARD, Tommy 0-0 0-0 0; WILLIAMS, Micah 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-48 19-24 72.
ASU 20 49-69
ETSU 38 34-72
3-point goals--ASU 13-34 (McLAUGHLIN-WILLIAMS 4-7; BOOTH, Jeremi 3-6; SIMS, Donald 3-7; ABRAHAM, Ryann 2-3; BRAND, Kellen 1-6; HIGHSMITH, A.J. 0-2; BERMUDEZ, Eduardo 0-2; CLAYTON, Jeremy 0-1), ETSU 7-17 (SMITH, Mike 3-4;
REED, Andrew 2-4; SWADER, Kenyona 1-3; STRONG, Travis 1-3; DAVIS, Jocolby
0-1; PIGRAM, Courtney 0-2). Fouled out--ASU-None, ETSU-None. Rebounds--ASU
37 (CLAYTON, Jeremy 7), ETSU 32 (REED, Andrew 12). Assists--ASU 16 (SIMS,
Donald 9), ETSU 15 (PIGRAM, Courtney 7). Total fouls--ASU 18, ETSU 18.
Technical fouls--ASU-None, ETSU-None.