University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Men's Basketball Hosts VMI Monday Night in Crucial League Contest - UNC Asheville Bulldogs Official Athletics Site
01.01.1970 | Men's Basketball
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Jan. 20, 2007
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The UNC Asheville men's basketball team looks to get to .500 in Big South Conference play when the Bulldogs host high-scoring VMI Monday night at Justice Center starting at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast by WISE (1310-AM) and on the internet at www.uncabulldogs.com
UNC Asheville (6-13, 2-3 BSC) ended a three-game losing streak Thursday night at Radford with a 77-67 victory. The Bulldogs got balanced scoring in the game with contributions from everyone in the game to pick up their second road win of the season. Sophomore forward Reid Augst continued his good work as of late with 15 points. He was 6-of-9 from the field. K.J. Garland contributed six assists, while center Kenny George came off the bench and scored six points, grabbed six rebounds and blocked two shots.
VMI (8-12, 1-3 BSC) has created excitement around the country with its style of basketball this season. The Keydets are averaging an amazing 102.4 points per game. They are led by senior forward Reggie Williams who is averaging 27.9 points per game, third best in the nation. He's shooting 52 percent (199-of-385) from the field and has made 51 treys. Sophomore guard Chavis Holmes is averaging 20.5 points per game and has knocked down a mind-boggling 70 three-pointers. VMI has scored 156 points in game this season and have been over the century mark 10 different times.
"We'll have our hands full with VMI Monday night," stated Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach. "They plan an exciting style of basketball and we're going to have to adjust to and see what we can do. VMI has some very good players and Reggie Williams is a guy who can play for anybody. We're going to have to play very well to have a chance to win."
The Bulldogs are still being led in scoring by junior guard Bryan Smithson. Smithson is averaging 14.4 points per game but has been held below double figures the past two games. He has made 21 straight free throws and needs to hit four more in a row to break the record held by Andre Smith (24) set in the 1999-00 season. K.J. Garland and Vincent James are averaging 10.1 points per game. James scored 13 points at Radford, while Garland dished out six assists. He moved into ninth place on the school's all-time assist list with 271. Garland has 28 assists with just eight turnovers in league play.
The game against VMI starts a stretch where the Bulldogs will play six of their next games in the friendly confines of Justice Center.
"We need to protect our home turf," explained Biedenbach. "It's so important to win your home games and if you can steal a game or two on the road you can have a good season.
"We've been on the road a lot (10 of the past 13 games) but now we're back home and hopefully we can get some momentum going."
The Bulldogs won both meetings with VMI last year as they won 83-65 at Justice Center and 82-74 at Cameron Hall.
