University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Presbyterian
Second Half Run Gives Bulldogs Win; McDevitt's 50th Victory
02.18.2016 | Men's Basketball
THE RUNDOWN
Score: Asheville 70 – Presbyterian 61
Teams: Asheville (18-9, 11-4 BSC)
Presbyterian (8-18, 3-12 BSC)
Location: Templeton Center / Clinton, S.C.
CLINTON, S.C. – Down 14 points at the break after their lowest halftime point total of the season, UNC Asheville stormed back to outscore Presbyterian by 23 points in the final 20 minutes as the Bulldogs grabbed a key 70-61 Big South road victory.
Winthrop defeated Coastal Carolina at home to keep pace at the top of the standings with Asheville and sets up a huge matchup for first place at Winthrop Saturday at noon.
THE TURNING POINT
Asheville turned the ball over nine times in the first half, but finished with just 13 total turnovers as they forced 13 second half Presbyterian turnovers. The Bulldogs tallied 20 points off turnovers en route to the win.
A 14-1 run between the under 16 and under 12 second half media timeouts pulled Asheville within one point before the Bulldogs added a 15-2 run late in the half to push away.
NOTABLES
-A pair of Bulldog freshmen turned in career-high point totals, with Dwayne Sutton filling his stat line with a game-high 23 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four steals. Sutton tallied 19 points in the second half.
-Fellow freshman Trae Bryant also had a career night, scoring 11 points, all in the second half, on 4-of-8 shooting, including hitting three of his six three-point baskets.
-After shooting just 30 percent in the first 20 minutes, Asheville hit 56.7 percent of its second half shots on the way to finishing with a 46 percent mark (23-of-50) in the game. The Bulldogs were 0-7 from long distance in the first half but hit five of 12 second half attempts, including three by Bryant, to finish the game at 26 percent from three-point range.
-Presbyterian stayed steady from the floor all night, finishing at a 39.6 percent clip (21-of-53), while the hosts hit six of 16 three-point baskets (38 percent).
-Trailing the rebounding battle 24-15 at the half, the Bulldogs bounced back in the second 20 minutes to finish the game with a 36-33 advantage on the boards, including pulling down 22 defensive rebounds.
-The comeback victory was third-year head coach Nick McDevitt's 50th as the head man of the Bulldogs, making him just the 12th head coach to reach the 50-win mark in three seasons in Big South Conference history.
-The 19 first-half points were the fewest in a game this season for Asheville, while the 51 second half points were the third-most points in a single half this season (55 pts. vs. Drexel 11/26, 52 pts. vs. Longwood 1/30)
QUOTABLES FROM HEAD COACH NICK McDEVITT
On the game – “It was a good win. Anytime you win on the road you have to love it. We were sleepwalking a lot there in the first half. We finally got going there in the second half. Credit to our guys, it's hard to be down 14 on the road and come back and win – that's difficult to do. I thought Dwayne Sutton and Trae Bryant made huge plays. It's a testament to Dwayne's toughness, and with Trae, not having played those type minutes in a while, I was very proud of him.”
On the defense – “I thought Presbyterian looked comfortable when we were in zone and we lacked energy. I thought if we were in zone they were going run clock, and we couldn't let them run clock down 14 points with 20 minutes to go. Credit to some of our guys for making big plays.”
On the Winthrop game Saturday – “We talked to our team coming into the night that they are all big at this point. Going down the stretch every game matters, and with how close everyone is each game is important.”
UP NEXT
-Following tonight's win, Asheville prepares for a first-place showdown on Saturday afternoon at Winthrop. Saturday's game is a noon tip off and will be carried by the American Sports Network. The game can be seen on WMYA MY40 in the Asheville area.
