University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Bulldogs Host Liberty in Semifinals of Big South Conference Tournament
03.06.2008 | Men's Basketball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The top-seeded UNC Asheville Bulldogs will host fourth-seeded Liberty in the semifinals of the 2008 Advance Auto Parts Big South Conference Tournament Thursday night starting at approximately at 8:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on WISE Radio (1310-AM) and be televised nationally by ESPNU.
The winners of tonight's game advances to the championship game on Saturday morning at
UNC Asheville advanced to the semifinals of the tournament with an 87-63 quarterfinal victory over
The teams split home decisions this year.
Big South Conference Coach of the Year Eddie Biedenbach knows his team faces a tough game with a talented Liberty squad.
"Liberty gave us fits both games this year," commented Biedenbach. "We had a great game with them here and barely won. Up at Liberty, they took it to us pretty good. They have a very talented and athletic team. We're simply going to have to play at our best to have a chance at winning."
This will be the seventh time that UNC Asheville and Liberty have met in the Big South Conference Tournament with each team winning three times. The teams have met twice in the semifinals with each team winning once. Asheville and Liberty have met in the quarterfinals four times with each squad winning twice. This is the first meeting between the clubs in the tournament since the 2001 tourney when the sixth-seeded Flames upset the third-seeded Bulldogs, 60-48 at the Roanoke Civic Center.
In Tuesday's win over Charleston Southern, the Bulldogs had five players score in double figures. Bryan Smithson led the Asheville effort with 22 points, while Vincent James added 18 points and seven rebounds. K.J. Garland finished with 13 points and eight assists. He now had 503 career assists and is in ninth place on the all-time career list in the Big South Conference.
