University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Western Carolina
Bulldogs Rally Past Western Carolina in Overtime, 85-79
12.28.2010 | Men's Basketball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - J.P. Primm scored seven of his game-high 26 points in overtime as UNC Asheville outlasted Western Carolina, 85-79 Tuesday night before a sell-out crowd of 1,072 at Justice Center.
Primm tied a career-high with 26 points as the Bulldogs rallied late in regulation to tie the game as Asheville won its 13th straight game at home. The hard-luck Catamounts (4-10) lost for the sixth straight time, all on the road.
Chris Stephenson added 18 points and eight rebounds for the Bulldogs. Matt Dickey had a solid game with 17 points, a career-best nine rebounds and six assists. He also had three steals. D.J. Cunningham added 16 points.
Western Carolina was led by Richie Gordon with 21 points. Trey Sumler added 18 points. Mike Williams finished with 15 points.
Sumler hit two free throws with 25 seconds left in regulation to give WCU a 73-70 lead. But Primm was fouled four seconds later. He hit both charity tosses to cut the lead to 73-72.
Gordon was fouled at the 19-second mark. He missed the front end of a one-and-one but came down with the offensive rebound. He was fouled once again but missed again. This time Cunningham came down with the rebound and was fouled at the 18-second mark.
The sophomore center had two free throws. He missed the first but made the second to tie the game at 73-73.
The Catamounts came down and had three chances to win the game but a jumper from Williams and two follows from Keaton Cole missed sending the game to overtime.
In overtime, Primm hit a jumper and two free throws from Jaron Lane in the first 30 second gave Asheville the lead for good at 79-75.
A dunk from Brandon Boggs of WCU cut the lead Asheville lead to 80-79 with 1:32 left but the Cats would not score again. A jumper from Lane gave the Bulldogs an 82-79 lead. Two free throws from Primm with 15 seconds left sealed the victory.
"It wasn't pretty but we found a way to win the game against a well-coached Western Carolina team," said Bulldog coach Eddie Biedenbach. "It was nice to make some plays when the game was on the line to get the victory. We've been on the short end of a few of these games this season, so it was nice to win a close game."
Primm went 9-of-12 from the field and 8-of-10 from the free throw line. He had four assists and two steals. Primm's four assists gives him a career total of 362 and places him fifth place on the school's all-time career list.
UNC Asheville continues its three-game homestand on Friday (Dec. 31) when the Bulldogs welcome Big South rival VMI to Justice Center at 2 p.m.
