ASHEVILLE, N.C. ? The UNC Asheville men's basketball team is back in action Saturday night when the Bulldogs play at defending Big South champion Winthrop at 8 p.m. The game will be televised regionally by the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network and can be seen on Dish TV Channel 432 and Direc TV 640. There will be audio-stream coverage of the game at www.uncabulldogs.com.
The Bulldogs have won four of their last five games to improve their overall record to 8-9. Tuesday night's thrilling 61-59 home victory over High Point moves the Bulldogs to third place in the Big South standings with a 4-2 conference record. Asheville now faces a tough two-game road trip in the state of South Carolina . Eddie Biedenbach's team takes on Winthrop Saturday night and travels to Coastal Carolina on Monday.
Winthrop has struggled this year with a tough non-conference schedule and some close losses. The Eagles have a 3-12 overall record and are 2-4 in the league, but Biedenbach believes the Eagles are much better than their overall record.
“Winthrop has lost some close games both in non-conference play and in league play,” said Biedenbach. “This is still a talented team that plays great defense and will be heard from before the year is over. We know we're going to get a tough Winthrop team Saturday night.”
The Eagles are led by Cameron Stanley with a 10.4 scoring average. Winthrop is holding Big South opponents to 63 points per game.
The Bulldogs continue to get a great season from senior forward Reid Augst. He enters Saturday's game as Asheville's leading scorer with a 15.8 average and 21.7 mark in league play. John Williams is second on the club in scoring with an 11.7 average after a 14-point effort against High Point Wednesday night. He tops the club in rebounding at 5.9 and in blocked shots with 33.
Winthrop and UNC Asheville played three memorable games last season. The Bulldogs captured both regular season meetings, winning 71-56 at the Justice Center and 63-50 at the Winthrop Coliseum. However, the Eagles denied Asheville a league title with a convincing 66-48 victory at the Justice Center in the finals of the Big South Conference Tournament.
NOTES: Augst is shooting 58 percent (42-of-73) from the field in league play and has scored at least 20 points in four of the Bulldogs' six conference games...Asheville has trailed in four of its last five games but managed to rally to win three of them and force overtime in the other...the Bulldogs have won nine of their last 14 Big South Conference games on the road dating back to the 2006-07 season...Saturday's game will be the 11th time Asheville has played on the road in the last 15 games. 
