Appalachian St. 65, Samford 59

Published Feb. 10, 2011 9:34 p.m. ET

foxsports

Donald Sims scored 20 points and had four steals to lead Appalachian State over Samford 65-59 on Thursday night.

The Mountaineers (11-13, 7-7 Southern Conference) had seven steals, while turning it over just five times. The Bulldogs (12-13, 4-9) had 12 turnovers, leading to 16 Appalachian State points.

Omar Carter added 19 points for the Mountaineers, who won their third straight.

After trailing by as many as 10 points, Samford pulled within two, 55-53, on John Peterson's jumper with 7:39 to play. The Mountaineers then pulled away on six straight points. Mitch Woods capped the spurt, in which Samford had two turnovers, on a layup with 5:53 remaining.

Appalachian State, which shot 11 of 21 in the second half despite missing all five of its 3-pointers, finished shooting 49.1 percent (26 of 53) from the field.

Josh Bedwell led the Bulldogs with 16 points.