University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
South Carolina State
S.C. State Edges Asheville, 79-77 - UNC Asheville Bulldogs Official Athletics Site
01.01.1970 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 21, 2006
ORANGEBURG, S.C. - Brian Mason's baseline jumper with 1.7 seconds left gave South Carolina State a 79-77 non-conference victory over UNC Asheville Thursday night at the Smith-Middleton Arena.
The Bulldogs (4-8) had fought back from a 13-point deficit with nine minutes before falling in the final seconds for the second time this year. UNC Asheville lost at Duquense, 77-76 earlier this season on two free throws with 1.9 seconds left.
Asheville was led by Vincent James and K.J. Garland with 22 points each. Bryan Smithson finished with 11 points and five assists. Reid Augst came off the bench to score 13 points.
Mason led S.C. State (3-7) with 23 points. Julius Carter added 16 points, while Jason Flagler contributed 10 points and 10 rebounds.
"We did a great job coming back down the stretch but they hit a tough shot to win the game," stated Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach. "We just let them have too many offensive rebounds during the game and it ended up costing us."
The Bulldogs have a few days off for the Christmas holidays before returning next week to take on South Carolina (Dec. 28) and Louisville (Dec. 30).
"We have not played to our potential yet," said Biedenbach. "We have the ability to be a good team. We just need to play more consistently than we've been playing."
The Bulldogs trailed 68-55 on a Mason jumper with nine minutes left before roaring back. Garland, James and Augst helped get Asheville within 77-71 at the three-minute mark. Ashevile then got a bucket from Brett Warner, a jumper from Smithson and a tap-in from James at the 1:38 mark to tie the game at 77-77.
The teames exchanged turnovers with S.C. State getting the ball with 44 seconds left. Flagler missed a jumper in the lane but the ball went out of bounds and was awarded to the home team. S.C. State held for the last shot and Mason got the ball along the right baseline. With two Bulldogs guarding him, the senior forward hit a 10-footer for the winning points.
"We did a great job coming back but had a couple of turnovers during that stretch that we shouldn't have made that hurt," said Biedenbach. "We're close to being a good team."
South Carolina State controlled the boards, 36-29 and had 16 offensive rebounds to 10 for Asheville.
