University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Winthrop
Bulldogs Fall at Winthrop 87-67
01.17.2009 | Men's Basketball
ROCK HILL, S.C. ? Defending Big South Conference champion Winthrop led from start to finish as the Eagles rolled to an 87-67 win over UNC Asheville Saturday night at the Winthrop Coliseum.
Winthrop jumped out to a 14-2 lead after five minutes and the Bulldogs could get no closer than eight points the rest of the game.
UNC Asheville (8-10, 4-3 BSC) was led by a career-high 23 points from freshman guard Matt Dickey. Reid Augst and John Williams finished with 12 points each.
The Bulldogs had a tough time shooting the entire night as they shot just 35 percent (18-of-52) from the field. Asheville was 7-of-24 from the field in the opening half at 29 percent.
The Eagles were led by Charles Corbin with 22 points. Winthrop (4-12, 3-4 BSC) shot a season-high 62 percent from the field (30-of-48).
“We weren't prepared for war tonight against a tough Winthrop team,” said UNC Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach. “Winthrop shot 62 percent from the field because we gave them a lot of easy lay-ups and easy shots.
“This was just a tough night. When you're a young team sometimes you have nights like this,” added Biedenbach. “We're a better basketball team than we showed this evening.”
Winthrop scored the first seven points of the game before Williams scored on a lay-up at 7-2. The Eagles then scored the next seven points to build the lead to 14-2.
The home team hit its first four 3-pointers of the game and sprinted to a 30-13 lead with 6:53 to go in the half. Asheville rallied as it made a 13-4 run to close to 34-26 with one minute left. Dickey led the run with seven points.
But the Eagles scored the final four points of the half, taking advantage of a Bulldog turnover to lead 38-26 at halftime.
“We made a nice run at the end of the first half but just couldn't sustain it in the second half,” added Biedenbach.
The Eagles put the game away early in the second half with a 12-4 run to lead 48-30. Corbin had six points during the run.
UNC Asheville plays next at Coastal Carolina Monday night starting at 7 p.m.
