University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Thursday, December 22
Columbus, OH
9:00 p.m.
UNC Asheville
8-5
77
at
79
Ohio State
10-3
1
2
F
AVL
33
44
77
Ohio State
36
43
79
Bulldogs Give Ohio State All They Can Handle in Narrow Two-Point Loss to Buckeyes
12.23.2016 | Men's Basketball
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Upset-minded UNC Asheville gave Ohio State all it could handle in a narrow 79-77 loss to the Buckeyes before a crowd of 11,480 at Value City Arena on Thursday, Dec. 22.
The two teams would play close over the course of the first few minutes with Asheville owning an 11-10 lead with 14:35 left in the first half after back-to-back Raekwon Miller three-pointers.
Ohio State would go ahead by as many as seven points over the next few minutes, but with 5:43 left in the first half the Bulldogs would be down just two at 26-24.
The Ohio State lead would be just one at 31-30 after a David Robertson three-pointer with 1:57 remaining in the first stanza.
The first half would conclude with Ohio State holding a narrow 36-33 lead over the Bulldogs.
Asheville knocked down seven three-pointers in the first half with Miller collecting three of those seven three-pointers to finish the inaugural half of action with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting overall.
The second half would commence with MaCio Teague connecting on a long jumper to pull the Bulldogs to within one at 36-35.
After the early second half bucket for the Bulldogs the Buckeyes would proceed to go on a 10-0 run to take a 46-35 lead with 16:52 to play in the second half.
Asheville would then go on a 6-2 run of their own to cut the Buckeye lead to seven points at 48-41 after a Miller fast break dunk that was made possible by a steal by Ahmad Thomas.
With just over six minutes to play the Ohio State lead would be only five points at 62-57 after a Thomas fast break layup. Just seconds later a Marc Loving technical foul for Ohio State allowed the Bulldogs to make it 62-59 after two Teague free throws.
Asheville's Kevin Vannatta would connect on a long jumper shortly thereafter to pull the Bulldogs back to within one at 62-61 with 5:38 left in the game. It did not take long after that for Vannatta to step up big once again as his three-pointer with 4:50 to play tied things up at 64-all.
The Bulldogs would lead 67-65 with under four and a half minutes left in the contest.
Neither team would be able to get much separation down the stretch before the Buckeyes eventually picked up the hard-fought two-point win.
Teague led all in the game with 23 points, six rebounds, five assists and one steal. He was one of three Bulldogs in double figures as Miller ended his night with 15 points and Alec Wnuk added 10 points.
JaQuan Lyle and Jae'Sean Tate both led the Buckeyes with 17 points each. Trevor Thompson collected a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards.
UNC Asheville shot 43.8 percent (28-of-64) as a team in its loss, while the Buckeyes shot 54.7 percent (29-of-53) as a team.
BULLDOG BITES
STRONG WEEK: In Asheville's narrow loss to UNCG earlier this week, Teague scored a career-best 29 points to go along with eight rebounds, two assists and one steal. Teague connected on six three-pointers in the contest with the Spartans. He was 6-of-9 from beyond the arc in total. Teague followed up his performance against UNCG by putting together another impressive performance against Ohio State with the 23 points, six rebounds, five assists and one steal.
SECOND HELPINGS: Asheville was down only three at halftime at 36-33. Despite the strong showing in the first half, the Bulldogs were not particularly shooting well at just 34.3 percent (12-of-35). That changed for sure in the second stanza as the Bulldogs shot 55.2 percent (16-of-29) as a team in the half.
QUOTABLES
"I was proud of our fight and resiliency against a team like Ohio State. Some teams fold up tents, particularly in a game that is right before the winter break, but I liked the way we battled and I didn't think we ever look rattled." – Nick McDevitt
UP NEXT
UNC Asheville will open conference play by traveling to Radford, Va., to face off against Radford at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 29.
The two teams would play close over the course of the first few minutes with Asheville owning an 11-10 lead with 14:35 left in the first half after back-to-back Raekwon Miller three-pointers.
Ohio State would go ahead by as many as seven points over the next few minutes, but with 5:43 left in the first half the Bulldogs would be down just two at 26-24.
The Ohio State lead would be just one at 31-30 after a David Robertson three-pointer with 1:57 remaining in the first stanza.
The first half would conclude with Ohio State holding a narrow 36-33 lead over the Bulldogs.
Asheville knocked down seven three-pointers in the first half with Miller collecting three of those seven three-pointers to finish the inaugural half of action with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting overall.
The second half would commence with MaCio Teague connecting on a long jumper to pull the Bulldogs to within one at 36-35.
After the early second half bucket for the Bulldogs the Buckeyes would proceed to go on a 10-0 run to take a 46-35 lead with 16:52 to play in the second half.
Asheville would then go on a 6-2 run of their own to cut the Buckeye lead to seven points at 48-41 after a Miller fast break dunk that was made possible by a steal by Ahmad Thomas.
With just over six minutes to play the Ohio State lead would be only five points at 62-57 after a Thomas fast break layup. Just seconds later a Marc Loving technical foul for Ohio State allowed the Bulldogs to make it 62-59 after two Teague free throws.
Asheville's Kevin Vannatta would connect on a long jumper shortly thereafter to pull the Bulldogs back to within one at 62-61 with 5:38 left in the game. It did not take long after that for Vannatta to step up big once again as his three-pointer with 4:50 to play tied things up at 64-all.
The Bulldogs would lead 67-65 with under four and a half minutes left in the contest.
Neither team would be able to get much separation down the stretch before the Buckeyes eventually picked up the hard-fought two-point win.
Teague led all in the game with 23 points, six rebounds, five assists and one steal. He was one of three Bulldogs in double figures as Miller ended his night with 15 points and Alec Wnuk added 10 points.
JaQuan Lyle and Jae'Sean Tate both led the Buckeyes with 17 points each. Trevor Thompson collected a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards.
UNC Asheville shot 43.8 percent (28-of-64) as a team in its loss, while the Buckeyes shot 54.7 percent (29-of-53) as a team.
BULLDOG BITES
STRONG WEEK: In Asheville's narrow loss to UNCG earlier this week, Teague scored a career-best 29 points to go along with eight rebounds, two assists and one steal. Teague connected on six three-pointers in the contest with the Spartans. He was 6-of-9 from beyond the arc in total. Teague followed up his performance against UNCG by putting together another impressive performance against Ohio State with the 23 points, six rebounds, five assists and one steal.
SECOND HELPINGS: Asheville was down only three at halftime at 36-33. Despite the strong showing in the first half, the Bulldogs were not particularly shooting well at just 34.3 percent (12-of-35). That changed for sure in the second stanza as the Bulldogs shot 55.2 percent (16-of-29) as a team in the half.
QUOTABLES
"I was proud of our fight and resiliency against a team like Ohio State. Some teams fold up tents, particularly in a game that is right before the winter break, but I liked the way we battled and I didn't think we ever look rattled." – Nick McDevitt
UP NEXT
UNC Asheville will open conference play by traveling to Radford, Va., to face off against Radford at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 29.
Team Stats
AVL
OSU
FG%
.438
.547
3FG%
.458
.300
FT%
.667
.692
RB
28
39
TO
10
13
STL
4
2
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
23
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
7
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
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