University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Bulldogs Host Bluefield Friday Night
12.17.2009 | Men's Basketball
Fans can get a free general admission ticket to Friday's game by bringing a toy that will be donated to Toys for Tots.
Asheville (3-6) posted a hard-fought 94-81 victory over Division II power Catawba Tuesday night at Justice Center. The Bulldogs trailed by six points early in the second half but rallied in the final 10 minutes to earn their third straight win. Freshman center D.J. Cunningham helped spark the rally as he finished with a career-best 21 points and career-high 12 rebounds. The Bulldogs shot a season-high 59 percent (37-of-63) from the field and controlled the boards, 47-32. Asheville also had 30 assists in the game, the second most in school history.
"We did a nice job rallying in the second half and beat a good basketball team in Catawba," stated Bulldog coach Eddie Biedenbach. "We still had breakdowns on defense and made way too many turnovers, but we grinded things out and picked up a win."
Asheville turns its attention to Bluefield (Va.) on Friday night. The Rams are a perennial NAIA power in the Appalachian Athletic Conference and have won two straight league titles. Bluefield is rebuilding this year and has a 3-9 overall record coming into Friday's game. They are coached by former Virginia star Richard Morgan. His top assistant is former ETSU great Keith Jennings.
"Bluefield has played a tough schedule, and they gave Tennessee Tech a good game in an exhibition game last month," commented Biedenbach. "We'll need to play well to beat them. Bluefield had a good team and has guys on its roster that are used to winning."
The Bulldogs are being led in scoring by senior guard Sean Smith who has an 11.0 scoring average. Chris Stephenson has scored in double figures in four of the last five games and is second on the club in scoring with a 10.7 mark.
The game with Bluefield is the third of a four-game homestand for the Bulldogs. Asheville's finishes its homestand on Monday against Wofford starting at 12:30 p.m.
NOTES - UNC Asheville will look for its fourth straight win on Friday as the Bulldogs have not had a four-game winning streak since a five-game streak at the end of 2007-08 season...junior forward John Williams is 11-of-13 (87%) from the field in the last two games...the Bulldogs are leading the Big South in blocked shots with a 6.6 average and have blocked 22 shots in the past two games...sophomore guard J.P. Primm collected a career-high eight rebounds vs. Catawba and had a season-high 11 assists...the Bulldogs are 30-8 at home over the past three years.
