Bulldogs to Host Western Carolina on New Year's Eve at 4 p.m.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. ? The UNC Asheville men's basketball team is back at home on New Year's Eve when the Bulldogs host Western Carolina at Justice Center starting at 4 p.m. The game will be televised locally by WMYA (Channel 40) starting with a pre-game show at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday's game will also be broadcast on WISE (1310-AM) Radio and video-streamed at www.bigsouthsports.com.

UNC Asheville is 4-8 on the season after embarking on a tough three-game road trip before Christmas. The Bulldogs fell at Duke, Buffalo and Ohio State before getting a few days off for Christmas. Eddie Biedenbach's club had positives in each game and hopefully those games will make Asheville a better team in the long run.

“It was a rough three games,” admitted Biedenbach. “We played three tough opponents on the road and struggled with each of them. However, we also did some good things in each of those games and will try and build on those things for the rest of the year.”

The Bulldogs face an improved Western Carolina team Wednesday afternoon. The Catamounts are 5-4 on the season and posted impressive non-conference victories over Kent State, Northern Illinois and Louisiana Tech.

“I'm very impressed with Western Carolina,” stated Biedenbach. “We all know what a good coach Larry Hunter (WCU's head coach) is and he has his team playing quite well right now. We're going to have to be at our best on Wednesday to have a chance to beat Western Carolina.”

The Bulldogs won last year's meeting in Cullowhee 83-73. This is only the second time WCU has played at Justice Center since the 1975-76 season. The teams have played 10 times at the Asheville Civic Center before the Catamounts came to play at Justice two seasons ago. WCU won that game, 61-46.

Asheville is simply glad to play a home game. The Bulldogs have played seven of their last nine games away from home and after Wednesday's game, they'll start another three-game road trip at Charleston Southern Saturday night.

Reid Augst leads Asheville in scoring with a 13.6 average. John Williams is next with an 11.0 average. He tops the club in rebounding at 6.0 and leads in blocked shots with 25. Freshman guard J.P. Primm continues to lead the Bulldogs in assists with 63.

NOTES ? Eddie Biedenbach has 199 victories as a head coach, 170 at UNC Asheville and 29 at Davidson (1978-81)...Biedenbach has a 6-8 career record against WCU, 5-4 at UNC Asheville and 1-4 when he was at Davidson...John Williams has 76 career blocked shots and needs just two to move into seventh place on the school's all-time list...the Bulldogs have played ranked teams (North Carolina, Tennessee, Duke and Ohio State) in four of their last seven games...Asheville has won 21 of its last 25 home games.

University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics

Bulldogs to Host Western Carolina on New Year's Eve at 4 p.m.

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