Tourney time

 All Nathan Healy dreamed about was playing in the NCAA basketball tournament. And that dream nearly came true.

Healy, a freshman at Appalachian State, watched as his Mountaineers suffered a 56-51 loss to Wofford in the Southern Conference championship last week. A win would have punched their tickets to the dance. Instead, the Mountaineers (22-12) will compete in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. They host Harvard at 7 p.m. today.

Healy, a 2008 New Bern grad, enters the game averaging 2.1 points and 1.7 rebounds.

“It’s all I could have really asked for,” said Healy, a 6-foot-7 forward. “Just being around another level of basketball was an awesome experience.”

Healy scored a career-high 10 points against East Tennessee State early in the season. He also had six points and eight boards against Morgan State and eight points against the College of Charleston.

“It showed me what I can do,” Healy said. “It gave me the confidence that I can play at this level. Some people told me that I couldn’t.”

This season, Appalachian State played against six NCAA Tournament teams: Louisville, East Tennessee State, Morgan State, Wofford, Winthrop and Robert Morris.

The Mountaineers traveled to play at major Division I venues at Louisville, Arkansas and Dayton.

“Those games were awesome,” Healy said. “Playing at Dayton, that place was ridiculous. They had a great atmosphere. And playing at College of Charleston, that was probably one of the greatest games I’ve ever been apart of.”

But the most disappointing game of the season, Healy said, was the conference championship game. Appalachian State got off to a slow start, falling behind 17-3 to Wofford.

Wofford had an 18-point advantage early in the second half before the Mountaineers rallied to cut their deficit to four with 2:21 remaining.

“We feel like we let one get away in the championship game,” Healy said. “We’ve been there and we know we can do it. Next year, we are going to come back and compete and show that we can get to the NCAA Tournament.”

Appalachian State rolled through the first two rounds of the Southern Conference tournament in Charlotte with convincing wins over The Citadel and the College of Charleston.

Although Healy didn’t get much playing time, he said practicing with his teammates has helped him develop.

“It makes you want to work to do things that much better,” Healy said. “I see how good they are and how capable they are and you want to be able to keep up with them and show that you belong.”

Adam Thompson can be reached at 252-635-5670 or at athompson@freedomenc.com.