University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
East Carolina
Bulldogs Win at East Carolina, 83-79
11.16.2014 | Men's Basketball
GREENVILLE, N.C. – Andrew Rowsey scored 28 points to lead UNC Asheville to an 83-79 victory over East Carolina at Minges Coliseum Sunday afternoon.
The Bulldogs (1-1) led for most of the game and built a 16-point lead midway through the second half. ECU made several runs at Asheville but clutch free throw shooting by the visitors allowed the Bulldogs to get the road victory. Asheville was 8-of-10 from the charity stripe in the final minute of play.
Rowsey was 5-of-14 from the field and knocked down three 3-pointers but went 15-of-16 from the free throw line to give the Bulldogs a win over a BCS team for fifth time in the last six years.
Freshman Kem Ubaru had a great game for Asheville off the bench with 17 points and nine rebounds. Corey Littlejohn finished with 10 points.
“We had a lot of different guys step up and play well today,” stated Bulldog coach Nick McDevitt. “Every time we needed a basket or someone to hit some free throws, we had someone do that.”
Caleb White led the Pirates (1-1) with 24 points. His three-pointer with 29 seconds left allowed the home team to close to 78-74. But Rowsey knocked down two free throws to push the lead to 80-74. After a Bulldog stop, freshman Kevin Vannatta knocked down a free throw to pad the margin to 81-74.
Asheville dominated the backboard with a 43-27 advantage on the glass. Giacomo Zilli and Jaleel Roberts collected eight rebounds for the Bulldogs. Roberts grabbed six offensive rebounds.
“Our post players came up big today,” declared McDevitt. “We did a great job on the boards with a 43-27 advantage and that was a big reason for the win. “
In the first half, Asheville broke a 13-13 tie by going on a 15-3 run to take the lead for good at 28-16. Ubaru led the run with seven points, while Rowsey added five points.
ECU closed to 34-26 late in the first half before Roberts tapped in a missed shot as the first-half buzzer sounded give the Blue & White a 36-26 lead.
Rowsey led the way for the Bulldogs with 15 points in the opening half, but Ubaru also sparked the visitors with 12 points.
The Pirates made an early run to close the Asheville lead to 47-40. But the Bulldogs responded with an 11-2 run that was culminated by a Ubaru dunk as Asheville led 58-42.
The Pirates quickly rallied but could never get closer than seven points until the final two minutes.
Asheville was 28-of-34 from the free throw line for the game.
UNC Asheville will have its home opener on Wednesday night when the Bulldogs welcome Johnson & Wales to Kimmel Arena starting at 7 p.m.
BULLDOG NOTES
Asheville head coach Nick McDevitt is 2-0 at Minges Coliseum, 1-0 as a player in 1997 and now 1-0 as a head coach…Andrew Rowsey has scored in double figures in 30 straight games…the Bulldogs are 3-1 against ECU in Asheville's Division I era.
