University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Presbyterian
Bulldogs Edge PC in Overtme, 69-66
02.16.2010 | Men's Basketball
The sophomore guard scored the final seven points of the game, including a three-pointer that put Asheville in front for good, as the Bulldogs survived on a night they committed 24 turnovers.
The victory was Asheville's (13-14, 10-6 BSC) third straight and kept them in fourth place in league standings. It was also the 194th win for Bulldog coach Eddie Biedenbach at UNC Asheville. He is tied with former Winthrop coach Greg Marshall for the most wins ever as a head coach at a Big South school.
The Bulldogs picked up 14 points from Matt Dickey and 11 points from John Williams. Freshman center D.J. Cunningham had six points but grabbed a career-best 15 rebounds. He also had four steals and four blocked shots.
"We did a good job surviving tonight," stated Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach. "We made way too many turnovers but made some key free throws and did a great job on the boards."
Chase Holmes led the Blue Hose with 20 points, while Jake Troyli added 14 points. Walt Allen finished with 11 points.
Holmes scored on a steal and lay-up to give the Blue Hose a 54-52 lead with 55 seconds left. The Bulldogs got the ball to Cunningham who scored with 30 seconds left to knot the game at 54-54.
PC (4-23, 2-13 BSC) had a chance to win the game but a last-second three-pointer was well short.
In overtime, there were six lead changes before Primm hit a long three-pointer with 53 seconds left to give the Bulldogs the lead for good at 65-63.
The Blue Hose got the ball to Troyli on the next possession, and he was fouled with 40 seconds left. He missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Cunningham came down with the rebound.
Primm finished the game out by making four straight free throws in the final 20 seconds to seal the Bulldogs' fourth road win of the year.
The first half had the Bulldogs lead for most of the way despite shooting just 30 percent from the field. An 8-0 run midway through the half gave Asheville an 18-9 lead. The Bulldogs got points from four different players during the run.
Asheville's defense limited Presbyterian to only seven field goals in the opening half, but Holmes kept the home team in the game with 12 points. His desperation three-pointer at the end of half cut the Bulldogs lead to 34-29 at halftime.
The Bulldogs had a huge edge on the boards, 46-33. Asheville did a great job from the free throw line as it went 20-of-21 from the charity stripe for a season-high 95 percent.
"The difference in the game was our free throw shooting and rebounding," commented Biedenbach. "We struggled on offense the whole night but doing those things allowed us to have a chance to win."
UNC Asheville will have a week off before the Bulldogs travel to Winthrop next Tuesday night (Feb. 23) for a 7 p.m. contest.
