University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
East Tennessee State
Men's Basketball Falls to East Tennessee State in OT
11.24.2007 | Men's Basketball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - East Tennessee State scored two baskets in the final 6.5 seconds to rally past UNC Asheville, 89-87 in overtime at the Justice Center Saturday night.
The Bulldogs (5-1) had led 87-85 on a Sean Smith three-pointer with 20 seconds remaining and got the ball back when ETSU was whistled for an offensive foul. However, Asheville was called for an inbounds violation, turning the ball back over to the Bucs.
Andrew Reed then scored on a lay-up to tie the game with five seconds at 87-87. Asheville threw the ball away on the in-bounds pass and Kevin Tiggs scored with 1.7 seconds left to give the Bucs the lead 89-87.
ETSU (2-2) couldn't celebrate until 7-7 center Kenny George's three-point attempt from half-court bounced just off the rim giving the Buccaneers the wild victory.
UNC Asheville had six players in double figures for the first time since a 144-93 win over Voorhees in the opening game of the 1987-88 season. K.J. Garland led the Bulldogs with 21 points and six assists. Vincent James added 16, while Bryan Smithson finished with 14. George chipped in 13 points, nine rebounds, eight blocked shots and four assists. Reid Augst and Smith both scored 11 points each.
"We battled and played hard but made some mistakes in the end that got us," commented UNC Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach. "Our effort was excellent against a very good East Tennessee State team but we made too many mistakes down the stretch. We'll learn from this game and get better."
Travis Strong led all scorers for East Tennessee State with 23 points. Tiggs added 20 points. Reed finished with 18 points, while Jacolby Davis contributed 10 points. Courtney Pilgrim, who leads the Bucs in scoring with a 19.7 average, was held scoreless on the evening.
The Buccaneers led 39-32 at halftime and built the lead to 12 early in the second half before the Bulldogs roared back behind Garland. The senior guard scored 16 points in the second half to help lead Asheville on a 22-5 run as the Bulldogs took a 64-59 lead with eight minutes left.
The teams would exchange the lead four more times before Asheville would pull ahead 74-72 with one minute left on a Garland lay-up. But Mike Smith scored on a lay-up at the 36-second mark to knot the game at 74-74. Each team had a chance to win the game in regulation but misfired on its chances.
In overtime, the Bulldogs got two quick baskets from George to lead 78-74 but each time the Bucs would answer. Leading 84-80 after a Garland trey, Strong would knock down a trey to cut the lead to 84-83. Tiggs would tap-in a Buc miss to put ETSU back in front, 85-84 with 47 seconds left.
Asheville would answer back one more time when Garland found Smith in the right corner. He knocked down a long three-pointer to give Asheville the lead 87-85.
UNC Asheville hosts Tusculum Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
