University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Western Carolina
Bulldogs Falter at Western Carolina on Sunday Afternoon
11.15.2015 | Men's Basketball
THE RUNDOWN
Score: Western Carolina 90 – Asheville 81
Teams: Asheville (0-2, 0-0 BSC)
Western Carolina (1-1, 0-0 SoCon)
Location: Liston B. Ramsey Regional Activity Center/Cullowhee, N.C.
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville men's basketball team controlled the majority of the afternoon at Western Carolina Sunday afternoon, but saw the Catamounts close strong over the final three and a half minutes to take a 90-81 victory in the regional rivalry.
THE TURNING POINT
With Asheville down by one point with 3:31 remaining, Western Carolina came out of the media timeout and closed the game out on a 19-11 scoring run. The Catamounts also outrebounded the Bulldogs 8-1 over that final stretch.
NOTABLES
-Sophomore Kevin Vannatta finished with a career-high 20 points to lead Bulldog scorers, but was held scoreless over the final eight-plus minutes after hitting free throws to give him his new career best mark.
-A trio of other Bulldogs finished in double-digits scoring, with Dwayne Sutton (12), Will Weeks (11) and Sam Hughes (10) all hitting the mark. Sutton added nine rebounds while Hughes grabbed seven rebounds of his own.
-Western Carolina was led by Mike Brown's 29-point effort, one of four Catamounts in double-figure scoring.
-Asheville turned the ball over 19 times by the end of the night, and Western turned those turnovers into 17 points.
-The game featured just eight ties and four lead changes despite being close throughout. After trading points in the opening minute, Asheville led the entire first half and did not give up the lead until Western hit a layup with 6:05 remaining to take a one-point advantage and set up the closing minutes.
-The Bulldogs finished the night shooting an even 60 percent from the floor and 36 percent from three-point range. Western rebounded from just a 37 percent first half shooting percentage to finish the game shooting 53 percent overall shooting percentage. Both teams shot well from the free throw stripe, with Western going 13-for-15 in the second half as part of their overall 80 percent shooting from the line, while Asheville was 28-for-37 from the stripe on the night (76 percent).
QUOTABLES FROM HEAD COACH NICK McDEVITT
On the game – “I thought that overall we didn't get the job done defensively. We can't give up 59 points in a half and win a game. I thought both teams for a while were playing like first team to 100 points was going to win. If you score in the 80's, you should win a game. We didn't get the job done defensively to beat a good Western Carolina team.”
On scoring contributions from multiple players – “Statistically, we didn't have anybody shoot over eight times, and we still got to 81 points. We talked to our team after the game, it's not about the offensive end. We have guys that can score and do some good things on that end of the floor. We just can't trade baskets and you certainly can't trade baskets with veteran ball clubs. Western Carolina returned four starters and having a veteran team, they kind of took advantage of our lack of discipline on the defensive end.”
On being in both games – “A lot of games come down to just a couple possessions, and Western made some plays at critical times. We just didn't get the stops. I thought we had a good defensive possession there towards the end with the shot clock winding down, and then Brummitt makes a bank shot fading away and then later Pughsley made one from 25-30 feet. They made big shots in crunch time and turned a one possession game a two possession game. When that happened, we were forced to start pressing and fouling. Credit to them for the plays they made down the stretch.”
UP NEXT
-Following today's loss, Asheville returns home for their first game of the season inside Kimmel Arena on Wednesday night when they host Mars Hill. Wednesday's game will be carried on WMYA MY40 television in the Asheville and western North Carolina area.
