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Mountaineers Play Host to Montreat This Evening

Appalachian State plays host to Montreat in its 2012-13 regular-season opener at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at the Holmes Center. Photo by Dave Mayo and courtesy of Appalachian Sports Information

Nov. 9, 2012. Appalachian State University men’s basketball will open its 2012-13 season when it plays host to Montreat at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at the Holmes Center.

The Mountaineers are looking to win their fourth-straight season opener and their seventh in the past 10 years. Appalachian downed the Bobcats, 90-61, in last year’s season-opening contest.

During the exhibition season, ASU went 2-0 with wins over Lees-McRae and Carson-Newman. 

Appalachian returns three starters from last year’s 13-18 squad that advanced to the Southern Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

SCOUTING THE CAVALIERS
• Montreat enters Friday’s contest with a 1-2 record on the season after dropping two-straight contests to Ave Maria and Webber International.
• The Cavaliers, who play in the NAIA Appalachian Athletics Conference, will count Friday’s contest against the Mountaineers as an exhibition game. 
• Montreat won its season-opener by an 84-80 score over Barber Scotia College.
• The Cavaliers return just one starter from last year’s 12-17 squad and bring back six letterwinners overall while adding seven newcomers.
• La’Bris Adams, Montreat’s lone returning starting, is averaging an incredible 25.3 points per game this season after leading the Cavaliers with 20.4 ppg a year ago.

SERIES HISTORY
• Appalachian State is 2-0 all-time against the Cavaliers and picked up an impressive 101-71 win when the teams last met on Nov. 16, 2010.
• Donald Sims and Omar Carter combined for 41 points against Montreat in the last meeting. Sims scored a game-high 21 points while Carter poured in 20.
• The Mountaineers shot 52.2 percent (35-for-67) from the floor in the victory and grabbed 52 rebounds to Montreat’s 43.
• Appalachian also picked up a 78-63 win over the Cavaliers on Nov. 20, 2006 and have enjoyed an average margin of victory of 22.5 points in the all-time series

UP NEXT
• The Mountaineers return to the Holmes Center floor for a 7 p.m. tipoff against High Point on Tuesday before traveling to Campbell on Friday for their first road game of the season.
• Appalachian will play the next three games on the road at Campbell, East Carolina and Virginia Tech before returning home on Nov. 28 against Duquesne.