University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Bulldogs Host VMI in Key Big South Conference Battle
02.12.2010 | Men's Basketball
Asheville (11-14, 8-6) ended a two-game losing streak with a hard-fought 75-72 home triumph over Liberty Thursday night. The Bulldogs led for most of the way but could never shake the Flames until the final buzzer. Asheville placed four players in double figures, led by Chris Stephenson with 16 points.
"I was happy to get out of Thursday's game with a win against a tough Liberty squad," declared Bulldog coach Eddie Biedenbach. "We played well at times but let the lead evaporate when we started going one-on-one instead of playing like a team on offense. However, we made just enough plays to win and we'll take that any day."
The Bulldogs face a VMI squad that is starting to put things together. The Keydets (9-15, 4-10 BSC) defeated Gardner-Webb on the road Thursday, 92-85. VMI has won three of its last four games after struggling with injuries. Asheville posted a 97-84 victory at VMI on Jan. 14. However, this series has been all about the road team winning. The Keydets have won three consecutive games at Justice Center and always seem to play well in Asheville.
"VMI is starting to come on and is playing its best basketball of the year," stated Biedenbach. "We played well earlier this year but we were fortunate, as well. VMI went 5-for-35 from the three-point line. I like to think our defense played well, but they also had a lot of good looks that just spun out. You're not going to allow VMI to make five 3-pointers very often. We're going to need to play very well on Saturday to win."
In the last eight meetings between the teams, the road team has won seven of the eight games. The last time Asheville won at Justice Center over VMI came back in January of 2006 when the Bulldogs rallied past the Keydets in the second half, 83-65. The last time the home team won in this series came in February of 2007 when the Keydets outlasted Asheville at Cameron Hall, 102-88.
"I don't have an answer why we play so well up at VMI and why VMI plays so well here," commented Biedenbach. "I know it's always a tough game whenever we play VMI no matter where the game is played."
VMI's high-powered offense is still going strong. The Keydets are averaging a Big South-leading 89.7 points per game and have knocked down a league-best 11.7 three-pointers per outing.
"We're going to have to play smart against VMI," said Biedenbach. "We'll have to handle the ball better than we've been doing and just play good, sound, fundamental basketball."
NOTES - Junior forward John Williams enjoyed the third double-double of the season vs. Liberty with 10 points and 10 rebounds and claimed his 500th career rebound as he becomes the first Bulldog to grab 500 career rebounds since Chad Mohn did that in the 2005-06 campaign...J.P. Primm picked up seven assists vs. Liberty and now has 271 in his career, putting him in 10th place on UNC Asheville's career list...the Bulldogs lead the Big South Conference in blocked shots with a 5.80 per game mark...Asheville leads the league in assists in conference games with a 17.1 mark...Primm now leads the Big South in assists (5.8) and steals (2.4) in BSC contests...Williams continues to lead the league in blocked shots (2.8)...Asheville has won six consecutive home games.
