University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Elon
Bulldogs Battle, Fall to Elon Monday Night Heading into Break
12.21.2015 | Men's Basketball
THE RUNDOWN
Score: Elon 86 – Asheville 81
Teams: Asheville (7-5, 1-0 BSC)
Elon (9-3, 0-0 CAA)
Location: Kimmel Arena/Asheville, N.C.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Visiting Elon knocked down all six of its free throws in the final 30 seconds to close out road win Monday night, snapping UNC Asheville's five-game winning streak with an 86-81 defeat inside Kimmel Arena.
THE TURNING POINT
Tied at 69-all with 6:19 remaining, Elon pushed its lead to five over the next four minutes to gain just enough of a foot hold to hang on for the win as the two teams combined 13 points over the final 90 seconds.
NOTABLES
-Seven total Elon players, including all five starters, finished in double-figures scoring, while the Bulldogs had five players in double-figures. Will Weeks tallied a game-high 16 points inside and grabbed nine rebounds, while Kevin Vannatta also notched a 16-point performance in the loss.
-Dylan Smith (15 points) and Sam Hughes (14 points) also finished in double-figures, while Dwayne Sutton collected a double-double with a 10-point, 14 rebound night.
-The Bulldogs forced 17 Elon turnovers and collected 25 points off of those mistakes, while they were outrebounded for the second-straight game on the glass (46-43).
-Asheville was 0-of-9 from three-point range in the first half and finished with just three long-range makes in the game. The Bulldogs shot 46 percent (32-of-69) from the floor, while Elon finished 49 percent (30-of-61) from the floor and hit seven three-pointers (7-of-25).
-Despite two Elon bench players finishing in double-digits scoring, Asheville's bench outscored the visitors 33-25 in the loss.
QUOTABLES FROM HEAD COACH NICK McDEVITT
On the game – “Obviously a little disappointed in the outcome, but at the same time I was proud of our effort. We lost to a good basketball team tonight. Both teams had multiple guys in double-figures scoring and I thought both teams did a good job of sharing the basketball. It's tough to win games when you give up that many points, and the game came down to a couple of plays. Credit them, they are a good team and came out of here with a win.”
On the break – “Christmas time is a great time of year. It's about family, friends and faith. You know the break is coming obviously, but it is important that they continue to take care of their bodies – the guys that need rest need to rest and the guys that need to run need to do some extra conditioning. It's important that they do enjoy time with their friends and family but also remember what they have to do when we get back. Furman is a good team and is our final non-conference opponent before jumping back into conference play.”
On the season to this point – “I'm happy with how our team is continuing to improve from the beginning of the season. We are playing hard and playing together, and when you have those things you give yourself a chance to be a good team by the end of the season.”
UP NEXT
-Following tonight's loss, the Bulldogs now take a break for the holidays before returning to action on December 29 when they welcome Furman to Kimmel Arena in Asheville's final non-conference matchup. The Furman game next week will be the second half of a doubleheader, with the Bulldog women taking on Winthrop at 5:00 p.m.
