Bulldogs Roll Past Radford, 82-63; Five Players Score in Double Figures

ASHEVILLE, N.C. ? UNC Asheville placed five players in double figures as the Bulldogs rolled to their fourth straight with a hard-fought 82-63 win over visiting Radford in Big South Conference action Wednesday night before a sell-out crowd of 1,159 at Justice Center.

The Bulldogs (15-4, 4-0 BSC) won for 10^th time in their last 12 games. Radford fell to 5-14 overall and 0-4 in the league. Asheville is off to its best start in league play since the 2001-02 season.

Kenny George led the Bulldogs with 17 points as he was 8-of-12 from the field. Reid Augst finished with 14 points, while Bryan Smithson and K.J. Garland added 12 points each. Vincent James chipped in 10 points.

The Highlanders were led by Martel McDuffy's game-high 19 points. Joey Lynch-Flohr pumped in 13 points. Amir Johnson scored 10 points, grabbed seven rebounds and had six assists.

Asheville had 25 assists in the game. K.J. Garland had seven assists and moved into second place on the school's career assist list with 437. Smithson added six assists. The Bulldogs blocked three shots in the game to give them a season-total of 144 breaking last year's mark of 142.

“We did the job tonight against a well-coached Radford squad,” commented UNC Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach. “We just could never put them away until late in the game and you have to give Radford credit for that. I thought our guys played hard and competed. We got a nice balanced scoring effort tonight and that what it's going to take to win.”

The Bulldogs shot a season-high 64 percent (32-of-50) from the field. Asheville has now shot at or better than 50 percent in 13 of its 19 games this season.

The Bulldogs led 51-44 with 10 minutes left before going on a 20-8 run over the next five minutes to push to a 71-52 lead. Garland had 10 of his 12 points in the run and hit two treys. He also had two assist during the run. The senior guard began the run with a long three-pointer with the shot clock running down and ended the run with a trey from the right side.

In the first half, Radford hung around thanks to 10 points from McDuffy. He knocked down two long treys and went 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Asheville built a six-point lead twice only to see the Highlanders come back and tie the game each time.

Tied at 25-25 with three minutes to go in the half, Asheville put together a 9-1 run to take a 34-26 halftime lead. Smithson, who scored all 12 of his points in the opening half, had five points in the run and George scored on lay-up to give the Bulldogs an eight-point halftime margin.

Asheville shot 65 percent (13-of-20) from the field in the first half. Radford shot 36 percent (8-of-22) from the field. The Bulldogs had command of the glass with an 18-8 advantage.

UNC Asheville plays next at Charleston Southern Saturday night starting at 7:30 p.m. Radford returns home to face High Point Monday at 7 p.m. at the Dedmon Center.

Bulldogs Roll Past Radford, 82-63; Five Players Score in Double Figures

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Players Mentioned

Reid Augst

K.J. Garland

Kenny George

Vincent James

Bryan Smithson

University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics

Bulldogs Roll Past Radford, 82-63; Five Players Score in Double Figures

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Next Event

Players Mentioned

Reid Augst

K.J. Garland

Kenny George

Vincent James

Bryan Smithson

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