University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
UAB
UAB Tops Bulldogs 79-71
12.14.2014 | Men's Basketball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – David Robertson scored a career-high 22 points for UNC Asheville, but UAB made a late run in the second half to record a 79-71 victory over the Bulldogs Sunday night at Bartow Arena.
The Bulldogs (4-5) fell behind by 16 points in the first half but battled back to take a one-point lead twice in the second half. UAB went on a 9-0 to take the lead for good and hold off several Asheville comebacks to earn its fourth win of the season.
Andrew Rowsey added 18 points and six assists for the Blue & White. Freshman Alec Wnuk chipped in nine points and eight rebounds.
The Blazers were led by Robert Brown with 19 points. UAB went 27-of-35 from the free throw line and was a perfect 10-of-10 from the charity stripe in the final three minutes.
UAB dominated the game early. The Bulldogs had four turnovers on their first six possessions and freshman Blazer guard Nick Norton knocked down three early treys to give the home team an 18-4 lead.
Asheville fell behind 37-21 on a dunk from Tyler Madison on at the 4:44 mark before the Bulldogs began to rally. Robertson scored nine points in the final four minutes, including a long three-pointer late in the first half to cut the UAB lead to 41-35 at halftime.
In the second half, the Bulldogs kept chipping away and took two one-point leads. Rowsey scored on a lay-up in traffic to put the visitors in front 51-50.
The Dogs trailed 55-52 when Rowsey fed Kevin Vannatta. The freshman guard knocked down a long three-pointer to knot the game at 55-55.
But UAB scored the final next nine points, seven on free throws to take the lead for good at 64-55.
The Bulldogs closed to 66-63 on an Ahmad Thomas four-point play with 3:59 left. Asheville was within four at 73-69 after Robertson scored on a lay-up at the one-minute mark. But the Blazers knocked down six straight free throws inside the final minute to earn the win.
Asheville shot just .333 (11-of-33) from the field in the second half but went 6-of-14 from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs shot .364 from the field (24-of-66) for the game.
Robertson was 9-of-17 from the field and 4-of-9 from beyond the arc. He played a career-best 40 minutes.
UNC Asheville stays in the state of Alabama and will play at Jacksonville State Tuesday night starting at 8 p.m. The Bulldogs next home game is with mountain rival Western Carolina next Sunday afternoon starting at 2 p.m. Tickets can be obtained at uncabulldogs/tickets.
