University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Men's Basketball Hosts Longwood Friday Night
02.05.2015 | Men's Basketball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville men's basketball team returns to Kimmel Arena on Friday night when the Bulldogs host Longwood in a Big South Conference battle starting at 7 p.m.
Friday's game can be seen for free on the Big South Network at this link. Fans can also listen to the game on WWNC Radio (570-AM) or iHeartRadio starting with the pre-game show at 6:30 p.m.
This is the second meeting between the Lancers and Bulldogs in nine days. Asheville won at Longwood last Wednesday night, 74-64 behind 24 points from Andrew Rowsey. The Lancers were led by Quincy Taylor's game-high 25 points.
Asheville (11-11, 7-4 BSC) is in a five-way tie for second place in the Big South Conference, a game behind league leaders High Point and Radford (8-3). The Bulldogs will host the Highlanders on Feb. 21 and the Panthers on Feb. 28. But the Lancers (7-17, 3-8 BSC) have Asheville's full attention for Friday night's game.
“Longwood has a good team. We played very well to get a win there last week, and we're going to need to play well for 40 minutes to have a chance at winning again,” stated Bulldog coach Nick McDevitt. “Our guys are anxious to play again after losing at Coastal Carolina Tuesday night.”
The Bulldogs fell at defending BSC champ Coastal Carolina Tuesday night, 68-56. Asheville was tied 27-27 at halftime before the Chants went on a 15-2 run to start the second half and take control of the game.
“We played well early, especially on defense,” commented McDevitt. “I felt good going into halftime tied because we had three guys on the bench with two fouls. But we just didn't play well in the second half. Our guys battled hard, but we just didn't play well enough to beat a team the caliber of Coastal Carolina on the road.”
Asheville is led by sophomore guard Andrew Rowsey with an 18.4 average. He was limited to six points on Tuesday due to foul trouble. David Robertson is second on the team in scoring with an 11.4 mark. Jaleel Roberts lead Asheville in rebounding at 5.6 and leads the league in blocked shots with 53.
Longwood is led by Quincy Taylor. He's averaging 16.4 points per game and knocked down 53 three-pointers. The Lancers fell at home to Gardner-Webb on Tuesday, 87-78 as the Runnin' Bulldogs knocked down 16 treys in the victory.
This is Asheville's first Big South Conference Friday home game since a win over Coastal Carolina in the 2004-05 season. The Bulldogs have the weekend off before traveling to Gardner-Webb Monday evening at 8 p.m. Monday's game will be televised by the American Sports Network but will not be available in the Asheville market.
BULLDOG NOTES
UNC Asheville is 43-11 at Kimmel Arena and 31-5 vs. Big South Conference opponents here. Asheville has won nine of its last 10 BSC home games dating back to last season.
The Bulldogs are 5-1 all-time vs. Longwood and 1-0 at Kimmel Arena. Asheville edged the Lancers here two years ago, 68-85. Longwood would even the score in a convincing way at that year's Big South Tournament with an 87-72 triumph in the first round. That loss would end the Dogs' two-year reign as Big South Champions.
Andrew Rowsey has averaged 28 points in two meetings against Longwood.
Asheville is 10-2 when it out-rebounds its opponents. The Dogs enjoyed a 49-32 edge over the Lancers last week.
Jaleel Roberts is 29-of-39 (.744) from the field in the last eight games. He tied a career-high with 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting against Longwood last week.
