Draper's 38 Points Leads Cougars Over ASU, 89-87 in OT

Friday, March 2

North Charleston Coliseum

8:30 p.m.

College of Charleston

Appalachian State

Draper's 38 Points Leads Cougars Over ASU, 89-87 in OT

3/2/2007 5:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

By: CofCSports.com

Dontaye Draper's career-high 38 points, including eight in overtime, lifted the College of Charleston to a thrilling 89-87 overtime win over Appalachian State before 9,459 in semifinal action in the Southern Conference men's basketball tournament at the North Charleston Coliseum on Friday.

The Cougars (22-10) advance to face top-seeded Davidson (28-4) in the championship game on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. It is the first appearance in the finals for the Cougars since the 2000. Both Appalachian State and the College of Charleston met in the tournament finals that season with the Mountaineers coming away with the 68-56 decision to earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Despite shooting 45.2 from the field in the first half, the Cougars trailed by most of it as the Mountaineers capitalized on 10 Cougar turnovers, posting 15 points off them. Appalachian State turned the ball over seven times, resulting in six CofC points. ASU shot 39.4 from the field.

Charleston shot 57.1 percent from the field in the second half, while Appalachian State shot 45.2. Down by four points with 44 seconds to go in regulation, Appalachian State used two timely free throws and a lay-up buy Clayton to tie the game for the 10th time of the night. Draper made two free throws after being fouled by ASU but on the ensuing possession, leading by two, 73-71, the Cougars fouled to put Clayton on the line shooting two. He missed the second shot, but the Mountaineers recovered the rebound with four seconds to go and Charleston was called with another foul, sending Donte Minter to the line. He missed the potential game-winner after tying it at 73-all by making the first free throw. CofC rebounded with three seconds but a last second shot was short and the game went into overtime.

Down 81-80 with 1:13 left in overtime, the Cougars scored seven unanswered points to take the 87-81 lead with 16 seconds to go. ASU nailed a three-pointer at the 12 second mark to cut the margin to one, but Charleston answered with a break-away dunk to send the margin to five. The Mountaineers connected on another three-pointer in the closing seconds but they could not get any closer as the Cougars came away with the two-point 89-87 win.

Draper's team-leading 38 points is a College if Charleston Division I record for most points scored in a game and his eight three-pointers tied his career-high. Jermaine Johnson followed Draper with 11 points and 12 rebounds for his seventh career double-double.

Leading Appalachian State was Minter with 21 points. Demetrius Scott followed with 20 points. Clayton's nine rebounds also paced the team.

Charleston shot 50 percent from the field for the game, while Appalachian State shot 43.2. Charleston edged ASU, 43-42, in rebounds but had 17 turnovers, compared to 10 for the Mountaineers. Appalachian State was 16-for-28 from the free-throw line, while Charleston was 18-for-30