Late Run Pushes Bulldogs to Win; Alone in First Place

THE RUNDOWN

Score: Asheville 63 – Charleston Southern 55

Teams: Asheville (16-8, 8-3 BSC)

Charleston Southern (8-14, 4-7 BSC)

Location: Kimmel Arena / Asheville, N.C.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – UNC Asheville closed the night on a 13-5 run Wednesday night to pull past visiting Charleston Southern in front of 1,927 fans inside Kimmel Arena as the Bulldogs grabbed a 63-55 victory in Big South Conference play.

The Asheville win, coupled with a Winthrop loss Tuesday night and a High Point loss Wednesday, gives the Bulldogs first place all by themselves as the final month of the regular season begins.

THE TURNING POINT

Down four points with 6:57 to play, Asheville used its defense to spark the 13-5 run to close the night, holding Charleston Southern to 1-of-9 shooting down the stretch and forcing four Buc turnovers that resulted in eight of the Bulldogs' final 13 points, punctuated by Sam Hughes' transition dunk in the waning moments.

NOTABLES

-Three Bulldogs finished in double figures scoring, led by Dwayne Sutton's 15-point, 12 rebound double-double effort. Dylan Smith notched a team-high 17 points, while Hughes finished with 11 points.

-The Bulldogs shot in the forty percent range from the floor all night, finishing with a 44.9 percent mark from the floor (22-of-49) as they hit seven of their 16 three-pointers. Asheville held Charleston Southern to 37.9 percent shooting in each half and overall (22-of-58 for the game) as the Bucs were 24 percent shooters (6-of-25) from three-point range.

-Asheville finished with as many steals in the final 6:57 (four) as they had collected in the previous 33 minutes combined. Tied at halftime, the Bulldogs pushed their lead to as high as eight with 11:49 remaining in the final stanza before Charleston Southern whittled the lead down over the next five minutes to lead by four before Asheville's late-game push.

-Charleston Southern had three players finish in double figures in the loss, led by Armel Potter's game-high 19-point effort. Raemond Robinson tallied 12 points and Javis Howard notched a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

QUOTABLES FROM HEAD COACH NICK McDEVITT

On the game – “We were able to get a couple of stops defensively that proved to be big down the stretch. To hold a team that shoots the ball like they do to 55 points is good. I thought we were a little stagnant offensively, but you aren't going to be sharp offensively every night. To find a way to gut out this win was big for us tonight.”

Upcoming stretch with three of next four on the road – “They are all big games. We can't afford to look ahead. When you look ahead past the next game you get yourself in trouble. We have a big one here with Campbell on the road Saturday, and as we saw tonight, all wins are tough and its even tougher on the road.”

UP NEXT

-Following tonight's win, Asheville hits the road to Buies Creek this weekend for a Saturday matchup at Campbell, the site of this season's Big South Men's Basketball Tournament. The Bulldogs won at home, 80-60, in the teams' first matchup this season.