Men's Basketball Downs Liberty 71-54

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – David Robertson scored 20 points to lead a balanced UNC Asheville attack as the Bulldogs downed Big South rival Liberty, 71-54 at Kimmel Arena Thursday night.

The win was Asheville's third straight (7-7, 3-0) as the Bulldogs are off to their best start in league play in three seasons. The injury-riddled Flames (6-10, 0-3) lost their third consecutive contest.

Also scoring in double figures for the Bulldogs was Andrew Rowsey with 13 points, while Chudier Pal enjoyed the first double-double of his career with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman guard Kevin Vannatta contributed nine points, seven assists and six rebounds.

In the first half, the Bulldogs forced 14 turnovers that led to 15 Asheville points as the home team sprinted to a 29-22 halftime lead. Rowsey scored nine points in the opening half. The Dogs led by seven at halftime despite shooting just .355 (11-of-31) from the field.

Theo Johnson's dunk cut the Asheville lead to 36-35 early in the second half with 14:27 to go in the game.

But the Bulldogs responded with a 15-6 run over the next four minutes to build a 51-41 as Robertson sank a three-pointer with 10:15 left. The home team got points from five different players during the run.

Asheville steadily built the lead to 17 on a Robertson three-point play at 67-50 at 2:06 left.

The Bulldogs out-rebounded LU 23-13 in the second half and shot .477 (14-of-30) from the field.

For the game, Asheville out-rebounded the Flames with a 41-31 edge. The Dogs outscored LU 21-9 on second-chance points.

David Andoh led LU with 14 points, while Theo Johnson added 10 points. Joe Retic had six assists.

UNC Asheville has the weekend off and returns home to host Big South rival Winthrop on Wednesday, Jan. 14 at Kimmel Arena on 7 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

David Robertson

Kevin Vannatta

University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics