University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Men's Basketball Heads to North Carolina State Wednesday Night - UNC Asheville Bulldogs Official Athletics Site
01.01.1970 | Men's Basketball
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Dec. 13, 2005
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The UNC Asheville men's basketball team hopes to build on its first win of the season when the Bulldogs travel to Raleigh to play #19 North Carolina State at the RBC Center Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
Asheville played an impressive game on Saturday when it roared past Furman, 79-65 at Justice Center. The Bulldogs played well for 40 minutes and led from start to finish. Senior guard Omar Collington scored a career-high 21 points, while Joseph Barber added 13 points. Asheville got help from the bench as Joey Harrell pumped in 11 points and collected seven rebounds. Walk-on forward Garrett Moles scored 10 points for the Dogs.
"We played well against Furman on Saturday," commented Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach. "I really like the way we competed for 40 minutes. We didn't play perfect and still have room to grow but overall it was a great effort."
The Bulldogs will have their hands full on Wednesday night at North Carolina State. The Pack has a 6-1 overall record and is ranked 19th in the country.
"N. C. State is very good and could be playing deep into March," stated Biedenbach. "They have excellent shooters and play great defense. We played well against Furman but we're going to have to play a lot better to have a chance to play with N.C. State."
Senior forward Joseph Barber has played very well on offense in the first part of the season. Barber, who red-shirted last season with a knee injury, is the Bulldogs leading scorer with a 13.0 average. He has scored in double figures in each of the past four games and led Asheville in scoring twice. Barber scored a game-high 17 points against Wake Forest and then pumped in 13 points against Lenoir-Rhyne. He led the Dogs in scoring at Western Carolina with 14 points. Barber had a solid game against Furman with 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field and 3-of-5 shooting from the three-point line. He is second in the Big South Conference in field goal shooting at 56.8 percent (25-of-44).
The Wolfpack hold a 15-0 series advantage over the Bulldogs. The teams played in the opening game of the 2003-04 season in Raleigh with State winning, 71-46. Asheville plays again Saturday afternoon at home against Brevard College starting at 4:30 p.m.
