ASHEVILLE, N.C. ? The UNC Asheville men's basketball team will try to go 8-2 for the first time since the 1983-84 season when the Bulldogs host South Carolina State Monday night at Justice Center starting at 7 p.m. The game can be heard on radio in the Asheville area at WISE Radio (1310-AM) and can be seen via video-streaming for a small fee at www.bigsouthsports.com.
Asheville (7-2) picked up a win Thursday night as it held off Campbell, 79-76 at Justice Center. The Bulldogs led for most of the game but had to rally in the final two minutes to earn the victory. Bryan Smithson led Asheville with 21 points. Reid Augst added 19 points. The junior forward set a new school record for most consecutive free throws with 27 before finally missing one in the second half. K.J. Garland contributed 15 points and eight assists. Junior center Kenny George finished with eights points, five blocked shots and tied a career-high in rebounds with 12.
“We found a way to win Thursday night but we need to play better,” stated UNC Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach. “We hadn't played in 13 days due to exams and that hurt us some but we still should have done some things better than we did. Give Campbell credit for making adjustments and refusing to go away when we had chances to put them away. However, I like the fact that it was a close game and this time we found a way to get it done.”
The Bulldogs will have a challenge with South Carolina State on Monday night. SCSU is 3-6 on the year pending a game at N.C. State on Saturday. The visitors on Monday had a tough schedule early in the year as it lost its first four games of the year to South Carolina, Old Dominion, Jacksonville and top-ranked UNC Chapel Hill. South Carolina State, under the direction of first-year coach Tim Carter, have won three of its last five games, knocking off Big South foe VMI, 89-88 on Dec. 4.
“South Carolina State is a good team that traditionally is one of the top teams in the MEAC,” commented Biedenbach. “They are a very talented club that struggled early against a tough schedule. It looks like they're playing much better recently and I expect a very tough game from them Monday night.”
The teams met last year in Orangeburg for the first time since the 1972-73 season. S.C. State edged Asheville, 79-77 on a last-second shot. S.C. State is led by freshman guard Carrio Bennett with an 11.2 scoring average. Forward Jason Johnson is averaging nine points per game and is shooting 54 percent from the field. He leads the squad in rebounding with a 6.1 mark.
The Bulldogs are being led in scoring by Smithson with a 17.2 average. He is shooting 64 percent (16-of-25) from the three-point line. Garland is averaging 16.1 points per game and tops the Dogs in assists with 53. George is second nationally in field goal percentage at 74.5 percent. He leads the nation in blocked shots with 44.
With a win on Monday, Biedenbach will move into second place at UNC Asheville for wins with 151. He is currently tied with former Bulldog head coach Jerry Green at 150 wins.
NOTES ? The Bulldogs have won 11 of their last 14 games dating back to last season...this will be the first time UNC Asheville has ever hosted a team from the MEAC...Asheville has been out-rebounded in four of its last five games...the Dogs have shot at 50 percent or better from the field in six of their nine games this year...K.J. Garland has 1,067 points and needs just 10 points to move past Guy Batsel (1076) into 21st place on the career scoring list at UNC Asheville...Augst is shooting 94 percent (31-of-33) from the free throw line.
