Men's Basketball Starts Two-Game Homestand on Saturday Against Presbyterian

ASHEVILLE, N.C. ? The UNC Asheville men's basketball team returns to Justice Center Saturday night to face Big South Conference newcomer Presbyterian starting at 7 p.m. The game will be televised regionally by SportSouth and can be heard on WISE Radio (1310-AM).

Saturday's game will be the first time the Bulldogs and Blue Hose have squared off on the hardwood since the 1977-78 season. UNC Asheville (8-11, 4-4 BSC) is looking to stop a two-game losing streak after falling at Winthrop (87-67) last Saturday and at Coastal Carolina on Monday, 64-57.

Presbyterian is not eligible for this year's Big South Conference Tournament, but the Blue Hose have enjoyed a good year in the league so far. Gregg Nibert's club has an 8-11 overall mark but is 5-3 in league play. Presbyterian whipped Gardner-Webb Wednesday night, 72-60.

“I'm very impressed with Presbyterian and how it plays the game,” commented UNC Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach. “They play hard for 40 minutes and give you nothing easy on offense and defense. We're going to need to play better than we played on the road last weekend.”

The Blue Hose are led by sophomore center Al'Lonzo Coleman. He's averaging 15 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. Senior guard Bryan Bostic is averaging 12.8 points per game.

The Bulldogs hope to stop a trend of struggling in the first half on Saturday night. Asheville has trailed at the half in five straight games and fell behind 7-0 in the last two games. The Dogs managed to make comebacks in four of these games and won two of them, but Biedenbach wants to see those early struggles stop.

“We've really struggled in the first half, and I don't know why,” said Biedenbach. “Our guys have done a good job rallying in the second half but we need to put 40 minutes together, instead of trying to play catch-up all the time.”

Senior forward Reid Augst leads the Bulldogs in scoring with a 15.6 average. He's scoring at 19.6 per game average in league play. John Williams leads Asheville in rebounding with a 5.8 rebounds per game average and is second in scoring with an 11.5 mark.

NOTES ? Reid Augst has 939 career points and needs just 61 to become the 24^th player in school history to score 1,000 career points...Eddie Biedenbach has 100 Big South Conference coaching victories...the Bulldogs have won 23 of their last 27 home games...Asheville has shot below 43 percent from the field in its last four games and have been out-rebounded in five straight contests.

University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics

Men's Basketball Starts Two-Game Homestand on Saturday Against Presbyterian

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