University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Lees-McRae (Exhibition)
Men's Basketball Cruises to 98-67 Exhibition Win
11.07.2011 | Men's Basketball
The defending Big South Conference champions shook off a sluggish first half and steadily built on the lead throughout the night as Asheville prepared for the regular season with its only exhibition game.
Chris Stephenson added 14 points, while Jaron Lane finished with 12 points.
The Bobcats were led by Daniel Sepokas with 17 points. B.J. Battle contributed 11 points, while Jeremiah Henry chipped in 10 points.
Both teams shot a lot of free throws in the foul-filled contest as 46 fouls were called. Asheville went 31-of-36 from the charity stripe, while Lees-McRae went 19-of-35.
The Bulldogs forced 23 turnovers and had 13 steals in the game. Freshman Trent Meyer had four steals for Asheville.
"We were sloppy at times but we played a lot of people and seemed to get better as the game went on," explained Bulldog coach Eddie Biedenbach. "Our defensive intensity was pretty good throughout and we passed the ball well. I didn't think we shot well (41%) from the field but still scored 98 points.
"Lees-McRae has a good team, and they gave us fits at times," added Biedenbach. "They'll win some games this year."
Primm, a first-team pre-season Big South All-Conference selection, was 8-of-16 from the field and 5-of-10 from beyond the arc. He also pulled down six rebounds.
Dickey, the Big South's Preseason Player of the Year, had a tough night shooting as he went 4-of-11 from the field and did not make a three-point attempt as he went 0-for-6. However, the senior guard went 10-of-10 from the charity stripe, dished out six assists and pulled down five rebounds.
A free throw from Will Lopez gave the Bobcats a 17-16 lead midway through the first half before Asheville went on an 8-0 run to take the lead for good at 24-17. Dickey had six points during the run.
The Bulldogs had good balanced scoring in the final eight minutes as they scored 20 points to lead 44-30 at halftime. Seven different Asheville players scored during the run.
The Bulldogs led by 14 at halftime despite shooting just 38.2 percent (13-of-34) from the field and making 11 turnovers. However, Asheville's defense forced 14 turnovers that gave the home team a 19-5 advantage. Dickey scored 13 points in the opening half.
In the second half, the Bulldogs continued to build on the lead as Primm scored 15 of his points after intermission. The senior guard went 4-of-6 from beyond the arc.
The Bulldogs were 15-of-17 from the foul line in the second half.
UNC Asheville begins the regular season in a tough way this weekend. The Bulldogs play at N.C. State Friday night at 7 p.m. Asheville returns home to play its first official game at Kimmel Arena against top-ranked UNC Chapel Hill on Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. The sold out game will be televised nationally by ESPNU.
