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GREENSBORO — Even as his basketball team hung with Appalachian State through 11 ties and 13 lead changes Monday night, UNCG coach Mike Dement had a nagging suspicion.

"Nobody could blink," he said after a 75-69 loss to the Mountaineers, who took over the Southern Conference's North Division lead. "Nobody could miss a shot or a free throw or give up a rebound."

In that blinking moment, the Mountaineers (14-10, 8-4 Southern) seized a five-point lead, and when they do break free in the final minutes their edge is almost always larger than the scoreboard suggests. That's because they've got the Mariano Rivera of Southern Conference basketball just waiting and hoping you'll put him on the free-throw line.

Donald Sims is his name, and he misses about as often as Glenn Beck or Keith Olbermann apologize. The combination of a quick spurt and Sims' presence elevated Appalachian over a Spartans team that played one of its best games of the season.

High Point Andrews graduate Kellen Brand broke the last of the 11 draws when he hit a jumper with 5:40 to play, but UNCG had another chance to pull even down 65-62. Mikko Koivisto had a look at a 3-pointer from NBA range and barely misfired. On the other end, UNCG (5-19, 4-9) induced a miss by Sims. Yet Isaac Butts made the tip-in and Appalachian led by five.

This is not the place to be against any team, and that's especially true against the Mountaineers, who have an insurance policy against late failure.

"There's no science to it," Appalachian coach Buzz Peterson said. "I like for (Sims) to have the ball in his hands. We've had success with him coming off ball screens."

In this instance, the Mountaineers led 67-64 and Sims was freed by a pick near midcourt as UNCG switched on the screen. The tough thing for any defender in that predicament is to handle getting bumped, to maintain balance and to avoid an immediate collision with the ball-handler. Montel Smith didn't want to foul Sims, but upon being picked off and switching, he couldn't steer clear of the contact.

Sims hit his free throws and the lead was back to five. He's now 116-for-122 in 2009-10. If the season ended today, his percentage (.9508) would be the sixth best in NCAA history.

If you're going to come back against Appalachian, you've got to force turnovers and execute perfectly on your end of the floor. The Spartans, who made one field goal in the final 6:58, couldn't pull that off.

"They're a scrappy team and they're tough, too," said Brand, who delivered 16 points. "But the tougher team was going to win. Somebody had to step it up on defense."

For just the second time in his past 88 games, UNCG's Ben Stywall failed to make a field goal.

APPALACHIAN STATE (14-10) — Hunter 4-6 2-4 10, Butts 4-7 0-0 8, Sims 4-13 6-6 16, Booth 3-8 0-0 8, Brand 4-6 6-6 16, Abraham 0-3 3-4 3, Healy 0-0 0-0 0, Wright 3-5 0-1 7, Highsmith 0-0 0-0 0, Williamson 1-1 5-5 7. Totals 23-49 22-26 75.

UNCG (5-19) — Stywall 0-6 7-9 7, Brown 2-5 0-0 4, Koivisto 5-16 3-4 16, Randall 7-11 3-5 18, Toney 2-7 2-2 8, VanDussen 1-1 2-2 4, Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Bone 0-0 0-0 0, Evans 1-2 0-0 2, Cole 1-3 1-2 4, Jackson 3-3 0-0 6. Totals 22-54 18-24 69.

Halftime—Appalachian State 33-30.
3-point goals—Appalachian State 7-18 (Brand 2-4, Booth 2-4, Sims 2-6, Wright 1-2, Abraham 0-2), UNCG 7-21 (Koivisto 3-13, Toney 2-6, Randall 1-1, Cole 1-1).
Fouled out—Brand.
Rebounds—Appalachian State 35 (Hunter 11), UNCG 25 (Stywall 12).
Assists—Appalachian State 7 (Booth, Wright 2), UNCG 5 (Randall 2).
Total fouls—Appalachian State 21, UNCG 22.
A—4,198.