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GAME NOTES: Leaders in the North Division of the Southern Conference, the Appalachian State Mountaineers try to finish the regular season strong as they challenge the Elon Phoenix.

Like several teams, the Mountaineers took a break from their SoCon schedule over the weekend to take part in a BracketBusters event and in doing so, beat Tennessee Tech at home by a score of 81-68. The victory was the fifth in the last six outings for an ASU team that enters the week with a 10-5 record in conference games with just three to play.

As for the Phoenix, they posted their second straight win on Saturday night with an 84-79 triumph versus Gardner-Webb on the road. The squad has won four of its last six outings overall, accounting for half of its win total for the entire campaign.

The Mountaineers crushed Elon in the first meeting of the season back on January 13th with an 89-65 final at home, which means the all-time series now stands at 47-41 in favor of ASU.

Four starters scored in double figures on Saturday for Appalachian State, with Donald Sims making good on all 10 of his free-throw attempts as he finished with a team-high 25 points in the win over Tennessee Tech. Kellen Brand tacked on 16 points, followed by Jeremi Booth and Isaac Butts with 15 apiece, the latter also clearing a team-best eight rebounds as it shot not only 54.2 percent from the field, but also 54.5 percent behind the three-point line. Sims has been a dominant offensive force for ASU over the last six weeks, leading the group in scoring in nearly every game as he settles in with 20 ppg for the season. One of the top three-point shooters (87-of-204) in the nation, Sims is also converting a staggering 95.9 percent at the free-throw line and that has helped lift the Mountaineers to 74.1 percent at the stripe on the season. The only other double-digit scorer on the roster is Brand with his 10.5 ppg.

Elon shot just 61.1 percent at the free-throw line and turned the ball over 21 times, yet the squad still played well enough to pull out the five-point win against Gardner-Webb over the weekend. Chris Long, who sank 14-of-17 at the charity stripe while the rest of his teammates combined to hit just 9-of-21, accounted for 24 points and seven assists, while Drew Spradlin and TJ Douglas tallied 18 and 11 points, respectively. Adam Constantine stepped up with nine points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots. Spradlin, one of three players to have started all 27 games this season, is tops on the scoring list with his 13.3 ppg, even though he is shooting just 60.5 percent at the stripe and 40.8 percent from the floor. Constantine, a mere 57.1 percent shooter at the free- throw line, checks in with 11.9 ppg and a team-best 8.1 rpg, yet Elon is still getting beaten on the glass by more than five rebounds per game at the moment.

Even though Elon has been on a run in recent weeks, getting strong enough play from key performers will only take the Phoenix so far against ASU tonight.