Kellen Brand will try to follow up his career night at Charlotte this week Game statistics

Men's Hoops Aims To Rebound Against Lipscomb
by Appalachian Sports Information

November 14, 2007 - MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - After suffering a hard season-opening setback at Charlotte on Monday, Appalachian State men's basketball will have the opportunity to quickly rebound with three games this week as part of the First Shot Exempt Tournament hosted by Middle Tennessee State.

The Mountaineers will open the tourney against Lipscomb on Thursday at 6 p.m. ET. On Friday, the squad will face San Jose State at 6 p.m. ET and close out the tournament on Saturday evening against the homestanding Blue Raiders at 8 p.m. ET.

About the Tournament Field
• Appalachian State University men’s basketball continues its five-game season-opening road trip this week when it travels to Middle Tennessee State for the First Shot Exempt Tournament Nov. 15-17 in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

• Lipscomb is the only other team in the tournament coming off a winning season after going 18-13 in 2006-07. The Bisons are 0-2 this season after falling to Centenary, 72-69, and Winston-Salem State, 68-58

• On Friday, the Mountaineers will face their first current member of the WAC when they tipoff against San Jose State. The Spartans are coming off a 5-25 season and return two starters.

• ASU and the homestanding Blue Raiders will meet for the third time on Saturday evening at 7 p.m. CT and the first time since 1971.

• The Mountaineers are coming off an 84-78 season-opening loss at Charlotte on Monday evening. Their first season-opening loss in four years.

• ASU will see a few new faces in Murfreesboro with the first-ever meetings against Lipscomb and San Jose State. ASU and MTSU have met twice, splitting the two meetings.

• Longtime MTSU fans may recognize a familiar face in ASU head coach Houston Fancher. Fancher, a 1988 Middle Tennessee graduate, served as a team manager under head coach Bruce Stewart.

• This is the fifth-consecutive season in which ASU has played in a tournament.

• The three opposing teams had a combined 38-55 record last season.

• SJSU is the fourth California team the Apps have faced. ASU has never won a game against a team from the state. All three previous contests have come on neutral floors. The most recent was a 54-52 loss to San Francisco in the 2000 Big Island Invitational. Prior to that, ASU faced San Diego and UC Santa Barbara in 1940 and 1941 in the NAIA playoffs.

• SJSU is the first current WAC member ASU has faced.

• ASU is 62-83 all-time against the current members Atlantic Sun Conference of which Lipscomb belongs. However, the majority of those games came against former SoCon foe East Tennessee. ASU is 16-10 against all other A-Sun members. In its only meeting with a member institution last season, ASU defeated Campbell, 81-74, in Boone.