University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Winthrop Downs Bulldogs, 79-60
03.01.2007 | Men's Basketball
ROCK HILL, S.C. - Top-seeded Winthrop had five players in double figures as the Eagles beat back a determined UNC Asheville effort, 79-60 in the semifinals of the Advance Auto Parts Big South Conference Tournament Thursday night.
The Bulldogs (12-19) had a four-game winning streak snapped. K.J. Garland led Asheville with 21 points. He had three assists and six rebounds. Bryan Smithson pumped in 15 points and was 5-of-6 from the charity stripe.
The Eagles (27-4) won their 17th straight game and advanced to the BSC championship game for the third straight year. Winthrop will face sixth-seeded VMI Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. The Keydets stunned second-seeded High Point, 91-81.
"We battled pretty hard tonight but just didn't have enough weapons to beat a team the caliber of Winthrop," stated Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach. "We played really well for most of the first half but made some mistakes late in the half that allowed Winthrop to get the lead. Winthrop's defense shut us down in the second half but then they have done that to a lot of teams this year."
The Bulldogs led for much of the first half and stunned the Eagle faithful with great three-point shooting. Asheville was 5-of-6 from long distance in the opening half for 83 percent. Garland sank a trey to give the Bulldogs a 29-26 lead with 4:34 left.
But the Eagles went on a 6-0 run to take the lead for good at 32-29. Winthrop pushed the lead to 37-31 before Kenny George scored to cut the lead to 37-33.
In the second half, Asheville was within 40-37 before the Eagles slowly crept away. Winthrop went on a 17-5 run to push the lead to 57-42.
The Bulldogs shot just 34 percent (10-of-29) from the field in the second half and had 18 turnovers for the game. Winthrop had a big advantage on the boards at 43-27. The Eagles had 22 second-chance points to just three for Asheville.
"We played much better down the stretch with our four-game winning streak," commented Biedenbach. "Our guys got healthy and did a solid job. I'm proud of the way we played and competed."
Senior forward Joey Harrell ended his Asheville career with nine points. He was 2-of-3 from the field and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe.
"I hate for Joey Harrell's career to end tonight," said Biedenbach. "He did a great job for us this year and his entire career. Joey worked hard and improved and was a real leader this season We will miss him."
