University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Ohio
Bulldogs Fall at Ohio, 81-62
02.18.2012 | Men's Basketball
ATHENS, Ohio - Walter Offutt scored 19 points as Ohio led from start to finish as the Bobcats downed UNC Asheville 81-62 in the Sears ESPN Bracketbuster series game Saturday night at the Convocation Center.
Matt Dickey and Jeremy Atkinson led Asheville with 16 points each. Dickey moved into third place on Asheville's career scoring list. He now has 1,710 points.
Ohio's defense limited the Bulldogs (19-9) to a season-low .295 shooting (13-of-44) from the field. Asheville scored just 18 points in the first half. The Bulldogs committed 24 turnovers.
Ohio improved to 21-6 overall. The Bobcats are 15-1 at home this season.
"We didn't' play very well tonight," commented Bulldog coach Eddie Biedenbach. "We didn't play hard enough against team like Ohio and expect to beat them. Our guys broke down offensively in the first half and struggled the whole night defensively."
The Bulldogs played without starting forward Chris Stephenson who was out with an upper body injury.
"We missed Chris tonight but still should have played a lot better," added Biedenbach. "We just didn't play hard enough on any end of the floor."
The Bulldogs struggled in the first half with their offense. Ohio forced 12 Asheville turnovers and scored 15 points off those miscues. The Dogs shot just .217 (5-of-23) from the field.
The Bobcats led from start to finish and led 34-18 at halftime. The 18 points was the lowest point total for Asheville in a half this season.
The Bulldogs never really threatened the Bobcats in the second half. Ohio shot .739 (17-of-23) from the field.
"We should never let anyone shoot 73 percent from the field in a half," said Biedenbach. "We played a little better on offense in the second half but you're not going to make any runs when you allow someone to shoot like that."
Asheville finishes the regular season with two home games at Kimmel Arena. The Bulldogs host Gardner-Webb Thursday night at
