University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Men's Basketball Heads to High Point
01.03.2010 | Men's Basketball
Asheville (3-9, 1-1 BSC) battled but fell at defending Big South Conference champion Radford Saturday afternoon, 82-74. The Bulldogs fell behind 25-8 after eight minutes but fought back to take a 56-55 lead midway through the second half. Radford went on a 13-2 run to seize control of the game and pick up its fifth straight victory over Asheville.
"We did a great job coming back and battling against Radford's massive front-line, but we've got to stop falling behind by so much so early," stated Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach. "We also made too many mistakes down the stretch that we simply shouldn't be making."
Biedenbach did see bright spots in the Radford loss.
"We out-rebounded Radford (37-33) which is impressive when you look at their front-line," commented Biedenbach. "We were able to make the game a full-court game in the second half and that helped us come back. I like the way we cut down on our turnovers (13)."
Asheville had five players in double figures against Radford as sophomore guard Matt Dickey came off the bench to score 15 points. Freshman center D.J. Cunningham continued his good work with 12 points, while Sean Smith and J.P. Primm finished with 11 points each. John Williams tallied 10 points.
The Bulldogs have a short turnaround as they get ready to face a tough High Point team on the road. The Panthers, under first-year coach Scott Cherry have a 6-6 overall record and are 2-1 in league play. High Point is unbeaten this year at home at 5-0. Asheville won two close games against the Panthers last season, winning 61-59 at Justice Center and 81-78 in overtime at High Point. The Bulldogs have had a hard time winning at the Millis Center as last year's victory broke a five-game losing streak there.
"High Point is playing well under Scott Cherry," stated Biedenbach. "They have a good inside-outside game and are always a tough game for us. We won them both last year but they easily could have gone the other way with just a play or two."
The Bulldogs are in the middle of a five games in 10 days stretch. After Monday night, Asheville hosts Coastal Carolina Thursday night and Charleston Southern Saturday afternoon.
NOTES - Eddie Biedenbach has 107 Big South Conference wins and needs three to pass former Radford coach Ron Bradley (110) and become the all-time leader in league wins in league history...Sean Smith and J.P. Primm are the only Bulldogs to start and play in all 12 games this season...Smith (159) needs just four made three-pointers to move past Willie Black (162) into second place on Asheville's all-time career list.
