University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Men's Basketball Hosts Montreat Sunday Afternoon at 4:30 p.m.
12.11.2009 | Men's Basketball
Asheville (1-6, 1-0 BSC) ended a six-game losing streak to open the season with a thrilling 58-56 Big South Conference road win at Gardner-Webb last Friday night. Chris Stephenson tapped in the game-winner with 1.6 seconds left to give the Bulldogs the victory. The Bulldogs are 13-1 in Big South-opening games under head coach Eddie Biedenbach.
Biedenbach was proud of his team's resiliency in the win.
"We didn't play perfect, and we still have a lot to work on but to start out 0-6 and find a way to win on the road was quite pleasing," stated Biedenbach. "I thought we did a great job grinding things out on defense and made enough plays down the stretch to win."
Biedenbach would like to see the Bulldogs improve on offense.
"We're still not shooting the ball like we're capable, and we're still turning the ball over way too much," commented Biedenbach. "One of the disappointing things in the Gardner-Webb game was how badly we were out-rebounded (45-30). We were fortunate to win, but we're not going to win too many games being out-rebounded that badly."
Asheville turns its attention to Montreat on Sunday. The Cavaliers are 2-9 on the year but have played Big South teams like Gardner-Webb and Presbyterian tough this season.
"We've lost to Montreat before, and know they'll bring a well-coached team that will play hard," declared Biedenbach. "They've played Presbyterian and Gardner-Webb this year and given both of them good games. We'll need to be ready to play on Sunday."
NOTES - Senior guard Sean Smith is 10-of-18 from the three-point line in the last two games...the Bulldogs won last year's game 91-78...Asheville has not shot better than 43 percent from the field this season...junior forward John Williams has 142 blocked shots and is fifth all-time in that category at Asheville...the Bulldogs have lost six games this year to teams that have a combined record of 39-10.
