Bulldogs Fall in OT on a Tough Shooting Night

THE RUNDOWN

Score: Coastal Carolina 68 – Asheville 66 (OT)

Teams: Asheville (14-8, 7-3 BSC)

Coastal Carolina (12-8, 6-4 BSC)

Location: HTC Center / Conway, S.C.

CONWAY, S.C. – Will Weeks' putback layup as regulation expired sent the game to overtime, but UNC Asheville tied the game just four times and took the lead once, by one point in overtime, and played from behind all night as Coastal Carolina grabbed a 68-66 overtime win in the Bulldogs' last trip to the HTC Center in Big South Conference play.

The Bulldog loss, along with wins by High Point and Winthrop, pull the three into a cluster atop the Big South standings at 7-3 at the halfway point of the league's conference schedule.

THE TURNING POINT

Sam Hughes' hit one of his two free throws with 4:27 to go in overtime to give Asheville its first and only lead, but the Bulldogs closed the game going just 1-of-7 from the floor and scoreless in the final 1:28 of extra time as Coastal hit only two of its six shots over the same final stretch.

NOTABLES

-Three players finished in double-figures for Asheville, led by Dylan Smith's 14 points, although Smith was just 5-of-22 from the floor (2-of-14 from three-point range). Smith pulled down 10 rebounds, including eight on the defensive glass, to grab a double-double. Sam Hughes tallied 10 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double of his own, while Weeks notched 12 points to round out the double-digit scorers.

-The Bulldogs hoisted up 81 shot attempts in the loss, but finished with only three more made baskets (28) over Coastal's 25 made baskets (25-of-58). Both teams struggled from three-point range (Asheville 5-22, Coastal 7-22) but Coastal tallied six extra points from the free throw line to tally the difference (Asheville 5-14 FT, Coastal 11-16 FT).

-Asheville outrebounded Coastal 52-41 in the loss, just the fourth time this season the Bulldogs have won the battle on the glass and lost (12-4 in those games). The Bulldogs had a huge margin on the offensive glass, pulling down 19 offensive rebounds while holding Coastal to just three offensive rebounds on the other end (Asheville 33 defensive rebounds, Coastal 38 defensive rebounds).

-Coastal hit five of 11 three-point attempts in the first half to stake themselves to an eight point halftime lead, while Asheville was just 1-of-10 from long range in the opening 20 minutes.

-The game was within striking distance for Asheville all night, staying in single-digits the entire 45 minutes of action as Coastal's largest lead was a 10-point advantage at the midway point of the first half.

-The Bulldogs finished the night shooting 34.6 percent from the floor (28-of-81) and hit five of their 25 three-point attempts. Coastal finished the game at 43.1 percent shooting (25-of-58) and hit seven of its 22 three-point attempts.

QUOTABLES FROM HEAD COACH NICK McDEVITT

On the game – “That was a tough fought game. We just didn't make enough shots to win the game. I thought we got some good stops defensively, and we knew they were a tough, physical team. Coastal was the best rebounding team in the league and we were able to win the rebounding battle. You can't win too many ballgames going 5-of-28 from three-point range and 5-14 from the stripe.

Confidence after forcing OT – “Our guys thought we could win the game. We took the lead there at the beginning on the free throw, but we had a couple of empty possessions. I thought Coastal didn't have quality possessions, but we got some quality possessions and didn't score. When they got a few quality possessions, they scored. We got some good looks around the basket that didn't go in, and didn't take advantage of a couple times we went to the free throw line, and it hurt us.”

UP NEXT

-Following tonight's loss, Asheville returns home for a Saturday matchup against Longwood at Kimmel Arena. Saturday's game will be a noon tipoff and will be a televised game on the American Sports Network.