University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Men's Basketball Plays at Buffalo on Saturday
12.19.2008 | Men's Basketball
BUFFALO, N.Y. ? The UNC Asheville men's basketball team is back on the road Saturday afternoon when the Bulldogs play the second game of their three-game road trip against the University of Buffalo starting at 4 p.m. The game will be broadcast on WISE (1310-AM) and on www.uncabulldogs.com.
UNC Asheville fell at #6 Duke Wednesday night 99-56. The Bulldogs finish the road trip at defending NIT champion Ohio State on Monday night at 7 p.m.
Eddie Biedenbach's club played well for most of the first half against the Blue Devils but Duke took charge defensively in the second and rolled to the win. Asheville had 24 turnovers in the game against Duke and were out-rebounded 42-24.
“We made too many careless turnovers against Duke, and I didn't like the way we rebounded,” commented Biedenbach. “We're a very young team and that's a tall order for us to play at Duke. I thought we did some good things in the first half, but Duke makes you pay for every mistake you make.”
The Bulldogs have another tough game with a strong Buffalo squad on Saturday. The Bulls are 4-3 on the season and have won four of their last five games. The only loss in that stretch was a 68-64 loss to #2 Connecticut where they had had a chance to win in the final seconds.
The teams met for the first time last season with Asheville winning a memorable 101-90 overtime decision at Justice Center. The Bulldogs trailed by 14 with seven minutes to go before tying the game and winning in overtime.
“Buffalo is a good team and is much improved from last year,” explained Biedenbach. “We're going to have to be ready to play a physical game against a team that came very close to beating Connecticut.
Reid Augst was a bright spot for the Bulldogs in defeat with a near double-double as he scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds. John Williams finished with 11 points.
Buffalo is being led by junior college guard Rodney Pierce with a 17.3 scoring average. Junior forward Greg Gamble is averaging 11.7 points per game.
Asheville continues to be led by Augst in scoring with a 14.7 average. He has scored in double figures in four straight games and in eight of 10 contests this season. Williams has an 11.4 scoring average and tops the club in rebounding with a 6.1 average.
NOTES ? Eddie Biedenbach has 199 coaching victories, 170 at UNC Asheville...the Bulldogs are 0-5 on the road this year but three of those opponents have been ranked in the Top 10...four of Asheville's last five opponents have been ranked in the top 15 nationally in scoring...John Williams has 72 career blocked shots and is eighth on the school's all-time career list...this is Asheville fifth game in the state of New York as the Bulldogs have played three time at Syracuse and once at St. John's.
