Bulldogs Down Winthrop In OT, 73-68

ROCK HILL, S.C. - UNC Asheville outscored Winthrop 12-7 in overtime as the Bulldogs rallied past the Eagles, 73-68 in overtime Saturday night in a Big South Conference showdown.

Asheville (7-6, 2-0 BSC) was led by Matt Dickey with 18 points, while Chris Stephenson added 17 points. J.P. Primm finished with 13 points. Freshman Keith Hornsby added 11 points. Junior walk-on Jeremy Harn added six points and nearly won the game in regulation with a jumper in the lane that spun out as the buzzer sounded.

"This is a great victory for us," stated Bulldog coach Eddie Biedenbach. "We battled and battled and found a way to win down the stretch. I was really proud of our guys for grinding in out and getting the job done."

The victory was Biedenbach's 223rd at Asheville. He ties former Bulldog coach Bob Hartman for most career victories at UNC Asheville.

Winthrop (4-10, 1-2 BSC) was led by Andre Jones with 15 points. Reggie Middleton and George Valentine finished with 13 points. Matt Morgan chipped in 11 points.

Asheville's pressure defense forced 28 Winthrop turnovers.

The Eagles led for most of the game and built the lead to 14 points early in the second half.

The Bulldogs chipped away and closed to 55-54 on a Harn lay-up with 2:17 left. Winthrop scored on its next three possessions but Asheville had an answer each time. Hornsby's three-point play with 23 seconds left knotted the game at 61-61.

Winthrop tried to take the lead but Jones was called for an offensive foul with 14 seconds left. Asheville played for the final shot and Dickey fed Harn. His shot from 10 feet just rimmed out.

In overtime, Harn's lay-up tied the game at 66-68 with 2:20 left. The Bulldogs took the lead for good on two free throws from Dickey at 68-66. Primm and Dickey made two more free throws to push the lead to 72-68.

Winthrop's last possession was stopped when Dickey blocked a Jones trey attempt. Harn came down with the rebound. He got the ball to Primm who was fouled with eight seconds on the clock.

Dickey moved into eighth place on Asheville's all-time career scoring list as he now has 1,445 points. Primm finished with two assists to give him 518 for his career. He needs three to become the school's all-time leader.

The Bulldogs are now 8-3 in their last 11 BSC road games.

Asheville finishes its four-game road trip at Big South rival Radford Monday night at 7 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Matt Dickey

Jeremy Harn

Keith Hornsby

J.P. Primm

Chris Stephenson

University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics