Men's Basketball Wins Over VMI in Overtime, 90-87

ASHEVILLE, N.C. ? Kenny George only played for six seconds but it was enough to put UNC Asheville into first place in the Big South Conference all by itself on Saturday.

George's lay-up with 12 seconds left in overtime gave the Bulldogs the lead for good as UNC Asheville rallied past VMI, 90-87 before the third largest crowd at Cameron Hill in school history of 4,219.

The win improved the Bulldogs to 3-0 in league play and 14-4 overall. VMI, trying to go 3-0 in league play for the first time in 30 years, fell to 10-7 overall and 2-1 in BSC action.

K.J. Garland sent the game to overtime with a 25-footer with 0.4 seconds left in regulation to knot the game at 80-80.

In overtime, Reggie Williams hit a jumper at the 37-second mark to push the Keydets in front 87-86.

Asheville came down and had the ball knocked out of bounds with 12.9 seconds left. Bulldog head coach Eddie Biedenbach decided to put the 7-7 center in the game for the first time.

After a VMI timeout, Garland sent a perfect pass to George who caught the ball and put it in the basket for an 88-87 Bulldog lead.

The Keydets quickly came down as Williams drove the paint but the senior guard lost the ball out of bounds. The ball was awarded to Asheville and George came out of the game. Bryan Smithson took the in-bounds pass and was fouled. He sank both free throws for a 90-87 Bulldog lead.

VMI had one more chance to tie but Williams' three-pointer just rimmed out to give the Bulldogs the dramatic victory.

“I'm so proud of our guys today,” commented Biedenbach. “We battled and fought hard against a great VMI team and found a way to win.

“We didn't play Kenny today because I thought he needed a rest, and we need him for the whole season,” added Biedenbach. “But I'm glad we used him for those six seconds; it worked out well.”

Sean Smith and Vincent James led the Bulldogs with 17 points. Smithson finished with 14 points, while Reid Augst added 13 points. The 17 points by Smith was a career-high. He was 6-of-12 from the field and 5-of-9 from beyond the arc.

"We had a lot of different guys step up today," said Biedenbach. "Sean Smith hit some big shots for us. Rashad Gill came off the bench and sparked us with his play. Bryan and K.J. didn't shoot it like they normally do but still made enough plays for us to get the job done. Vincent James and John Williams played some terrific defense in the second half."

"VMI gave us some different looks with its zones and trick defenses. We didn't do a good job of attacking it at times but we found a way to get it done," Biedenbach also said.

The game saw nine ties, 13 lead changes and neither team led by more than an eight-point margin.

VMI led 28-20 following a Williams dunk with 6:30 left in the first half. But the Bulldogs later responded with a 9-2 to run to pull even at 40-40 on a Smith 3-pointer with 1:33 remaining. Asheville led 45-43 at halftime.

The Bulldogs got off to a quick start after halftime and built its largest lead of the game (51-46) on a three-point play by James at the 18:41 mark. The Keydets later led 75-70 with 7:07 remaining in regulation on a Travis Holmes 3-pointer, but Asheville countered with a 7-0 run to nudge ahead 77-75 at the 4:12 mark. VMI retook the lead, 80-77, on a Reggie Williams tap-in with 2:34 left in regulation but the game remained scoreless until Garland's clutch trey forced overtime.

VMI committed 21 turnovers to just eight for Asheville marking only the second time this season VMI had turned the ball over more than its opponent. The Bulldogs capitalized holding a 24-9 advantage in points off turnovers. The Keydets led in rebounding (44-36) and outshot Asheville53% to 44% for the game, but hit just two of seven shots from the floor in overtime. Williams was held to just six points after halftime.

UNC Asheville is home again Wednesday night against Radford starting at 7 p.m.

NOTES - K.J. Garland is now tied for second place on the school's career assist list with Josh Kohn at 430...his assist to Kenny George on the winning basket tied the mark...Asheville is 3-0 in the Big South for the first time since the 2001-02 season...the Bulldogs' 13 treys was the second most in school history, one behind the school mark of 14 set against Winthrop in the 2002-03 season...reserve guard Rashad Gill scored a career-high eight points in the game...the Bulldogs have won eight of their last 10 games and 18 of their last 23 games dating back to last year...Garland moved into 18th place on the career scoring list past Eddie Latta and now has 1,178 points...Asheville only had eight turnovers in the game and had 14 steals.