Postgame Quotes
Appalachian State at Chattanooga
Chattanooga, Tenn. - McKenzie Arena
Jan. 7, 2012

Head Coach John Shulman
Opening Statement:
"How can you not be proud of your team? To find out really 25 minutes before the game that Omar could not play because of a back [injury]. There is a reason that Ricky [Taylor] did not shoot a lot of threes tonight because his wrist was so banged up that he could not shoot anything from three. We are out there playing with a band aid and so rubber bands, trying to hold us together and go down 10 late in the second half. We find a way to do that.

"I commend our kids. They did a fantastic job. They never panicked. The coaching staff did not panic. I commend our crowd. When I came back on the floor and I saw that kids on the floor in the huddle after we win and they go to the student section. Our kids were having a blast. Our fans had a blast. I don't know if we win it without our fans tonight. We needed them because we needed a lift. They gave us a great lift. We are thrilled to figure out a way to win when we did not have our A game. It is hard to have your A game every night. I could not be more proud of our kids."

On the belief that if you keep playing defense, then your offense will come around:
"We had to keep on believing what we were doing. I thought our press helped us with going up-tempo a little bit. They turned around and shot it quick out of it, which is what we wanted them to do. It was fortunate that they had a couple of misses out there. Talking about misses, we missed layup after layup after layup after layup, and we still did not get discouraged. We could have bagged it. We were down 10 or 12 with five or six minutes to play. At the six minute mark, I told them that if we win this next three minutes by four, we did not have to win it by 10, so we simplified things. Z Mason made a couple of huge free throws. I know Tay [Dontay Hampton] is going to get credit. We have been working on that play a lot. He just made a great play and he is a great kid and winner. For our guys to step up without Omar, this is what makes you proud to be their basketball coach."

On the final play:
"They held for one. I am glad they did not hold it all the way to the end, because then the best thing that we could hope for was overtime. Omar Carter is fantastic. He did a fantastic job tonight, stayed down, stayed down. I was going to call a timeout, but there was so much time. I felt like there was six seconds when he got the ball. With six seconds, there is not a better play , then scoring it in transition when the other team does not want to foul. They are not set up. The best coaching at that moment was to not do anything. We lost to Charleston that same way. Sometimes it is best to not do anything and have your player make a play."

On Dontay Hampton:
"He has the it factor. He has always had the it factor. He had it in high school. He is just a winner. He is a winner off and on the floor. He is a winner. I had no worries. I did not know if he would make it. Tay taking that shot, I am good with that. Even if he misses, I am still good with that."

On Keegan Bell's play tonight:
"Keegan is like my son. I can read Keegan pretty good. He is getting a little frustrated. I told him before the game that he was going to have to log some minutes. We do not have Omar, so we are going to have to piece it together. He misses a layup and another layup and struggled from three. As coaches and players, we had his back the whole time. I do not think that anyone ever lost faith in each other. I am telling you this is a unique team. Our chemistry is phenomenal and they like each other. We have a locker room that likes each other. There are not many locker rooms in the country where everyone likes each other, and that helps us."

On the matchup of Drazen Zlovaric and Omar Carter:
"I thought that Z [Drazen Zlovaric] did a fantastic job on him the whole night. He scored on the and-1, and that really wasn't on Z because he fouled him when we were pressing. He made some tough shots on Z. I thought that Z did a nice job guarding him the entire night. Z is surprisingly a better on-ball defender than you think. He just looks a little unorthodox, but he can guard. As long as he stays down and doesn't foul on the three-point line, if Carter makes it over a hand, then he makes it over a hand. Carter is phenomenal and they have great young kids. They are as talented of a basketball team as there is in our league."

On the fans tonight:
"I am just so thrilled that our kids got to experience that win with our fans. That made my night. The win made my night, but seeing the players faces and our fans was cool. I think our fans really appreciate this basketball team. I know our kids appreciate our fans. We have Wofford coming in on Thursday. It will be a big game."

"I was thinking about trying to get fouled because they were in the double bonus, which is why I went in for a floater."

"In the offseason, I worked on floaters, so I knew that I had an angle. The defender got pretty high."

On hitting the last shot:<br>"It just means so much being mentioned with these guys [four seniors]. I am just thankful for the opportunity."

On what a win like this could do for this team:
"It is a big confidence booster. You just won two in a row, so everyone is feeling good. We also know that we still have to keep working. We also did not have our 3-man, so that provides confidence for our guys like Lance [Stokes], Rico [Ronrico White] and me, so now we have even more confidence, when we come into the game."

Senior Guard Ricky Taylor
On the mentality of the team and possibly feeling a little more pressure to score with Omar out:
"I did not feel anymore pressure because we have great offensive players, a great point guard, a great 3-, 4- and 5-man. We are all gifted offensively. We just had to play within ourselves, the system and offense. Things went our way tonight and we came out with a win."

On the game:
"We fought and played with passion tonight. We also played with intensity and did not give up. We kept battling to the end. I am very proud of this team for not giving up. When things did not look right, we just kept on going. We struggled offensively and defensively on the boards, it was just a struggle for us tonight. It was something about Chattanooga pride and about the fans that came out and supported us. If it wasn't for the fans, I don't think that we would have won tonight. We greatly appreciate the fan support because it was a tremendous atmosphere tonight."

Appalachian State Head Coach Jason Capel
Thoughts on the game:
"Tough loss. I thought we did a lot of really good things that put us in position to win that game. We have to finish the game. We had some costly turnovers and didn't execute in certain situations. Missed some wide open shots that we actually had looks at and then game them opportunities because of our breakdowns. Give them credit they made the play. They made the plays because of our breakdowns. We are a young team. We will learn from this. We have to finish the basketball game."

On guarding Keegan Bell who was 1-13 from the field and 1-10 from 3-pt. range:
"Bell had a rough night, but we did a great job. Our young backcourt did a great job of guarding him - better than a lot of people have - but when it was time for him to make a big shot, he made it. He made his one shot."