Men's Basketball Hosts Coastal Carolina Wednesday Night

ASHEVILLE, N.C. ? The UNC Asheville men's basketball team plays its final regular season home game of the year Wednesday night when the Bulldogs host Coastal Carolina at Justice Center starting at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on WISE Radio (1310-AM) and can be seen via video-streaming for a small fee at www.bigsouthsports.com.

UNC Asheville (19-8, 8-4 BSC) broke a four-game losing streak Saturday afternoon with an 85-73 victory over Charleston Southern. The Bulldogs got 21 points from Bryan Smithson and Reid Augst in the victory. Junior center Kenny George also returned and had a solid game with 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field.

“We played pretty well on offense Saturday against Charleston Southern and did some good things on defense,” stated UNC Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach.

The victory allowed Asheville to keep its hopes alive to win the Big South Conference regular-season championship. The Bulldogs have to beat Coastal Carolina and then win at Winthrop to win their first regular-season title since the 2001-02 season when they shared the title with the Eagles. A first-place finish would give Asheville the top seed in next week's Advance Auto Parts Big South Conference Tournament and allow the Bulldogs to play all of those tournament games at home.

Prior to the game, UNC Asheville will honor its five seniors. They are K.J. Garland, Vincent James, Garrett Moles, Bryan Smithson and manager Bryan Green.

Coastal Carolina (13-12, 6-6 BSC) is under the direction of first-year coach Cliff Ellis. The Chanticleers have battled injuries and illness all year long but have managed to stay in the thick of things in the conference race. Asheville had a tough battle with Coastal Carolina back on Jan. 28 in Conway but managed to squeak out a 56-52 victory. Senior guard Jack Leasure leads the CCU attack with a 16.6 scoring average. He has knocked down a league-leading 96 treys on the year. Freshman forward Anthony Breeze is averaging 9.6 points per game. The Chanticleers are coming off a thrilling 55-54 win over High Point last Monday night as Breeze tipped in the game-winner with three seconds left in the game.

“Cliff Ellis has done a nice job with some of the adversity that Coastal Carolina has had this season,” commented Biedenbach. “We had a very tough game with them earlier this season, and I expect it to be another tough game Wednesday night. We're going to have play very well to have a chance at winning.”

The Bulldogs were a little healthier last Saturday than they've been in a few weeks. Smithson, who has been battling an ankle injury, played 37 minutes and was 5-of-7 from the three-point line. George had only played 11 minutes in the last five games prior to Saturday played 18 minutes and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the field in the second half.

“We're still not 100 percent healthy but then nobody is at this time of the year,” said Biedenbach. “We just have to play through adversity and find a way to grind things out on both offense and defense.”

Asheville is going for its 20^th victory on Wednesday night. The Bulldog program has not had 20 wins since the 1985-86 team went 20-9.

The Bulldogs continue to have five players scoring in double figures. Smithson leads Asheville with a 16.2 average, while K.J. Garland is at 13.7 points per game. George is averaging 12.3 points per game. Vincent James has an 11.0 average. Reid Augst has been hot lately and has a 10.4 scoring average.

NOTES ? UNC Asheville is ranked nationally in three different statistical categories...the Bulldogs are ranked sixth in blocked shots (6.7), 10^th in field goal percentage (48.7) and 12^th in assists (17.6)...Kenny George leads the nation in field goal percentage (70.6%) and is fifth in blocked shots (4.0)...Asheville has shot at or better than 50 percent in 16 different games this year...Reid Augst has made 11 of his last 12 free throws...Bryan Smithson has scored at least 21 points in 10 games this season.