University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Gardner-Webb
Bulldogs Down Gardner-Webb, 66-60
12.01.2011 | Men's Basketball
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. - UNC Asheville placed three players in double figures as the Bulldogs opened Big South Conference play with a hard-fought 66-60 win over Gardner-Webb Thursday night at Paul Porter Arena.
The Bulldogs (4-4, 1-0 BSC) were led by Jaron Lane with 15 points, while Matt Dickey added 13 points and five assists. J.P. Primm contributed 12 points. Chris Stephenson chipped in nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
Asheville overcame a horrible start as Gardner-Webb led 14-1 after eight minutes of play. The Bulldogs did not get their first field goal until Lane scored on a lay-up with 11:23 to go in the opening half.
The Bulldogs trailed for much of the second half until an 8-0 run midway gave Asheville the lead for good. Primm and Dickey combined for 24 points in the second half.
"We knew it would be a battle and it was from start to finish," stated Bulldog coach Eddie Biedenbach. "Gardner-Webb played so hard but we did a good job matching their intensity and we found a way to win the game.
"We still made some bad decisions late in the game that let them get back into the game but we hit enough free throws to hold on," added Biedenbach. "Our guys have to understand it's going to be a war every time we play someone in the conference. I like the fact that we didn't panic when we got down 14-1 and kept playing good defense and grinded things out."
The win made the Bulldogs 15-1 in Big South Conference opening-games under Biedenbach. Asheville has now won seven straight Big South lid-lifters.
After missing their first 10 shots and making six turnovers in the first five minutes of the game, the Bulldogs shot .524 (11-of-21) from the field in the second half.
Asheville's zone defense limited the Runnin' Bulldogs (3-6, 0-1 BSC) to just 36 percent (23-of-64) shooting from the field and 18 percent (6-of-33) from beyond the arc.
UNC Asheville plays next on Sunday afternoon at Kimmel Arena against USC Upstate starting at 2 p.m. The game will be televised locally by WMYA-TV.
