University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Wednesday, January 11
Asheville, NC
7:00 p.m.
UNC Asheville
(12-6, 4-1BSC)
89
vs
68
Longwood
(6-10, 3-2BSC)
1
2
F
Longwood
30
38
68
Asheville
41
48
89
Teague and Thomas Put on a Show as Bulldogs Win Fourth Straight
01.11.2017 | Men's Basketball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - In an early conference season battle among two of the teams atop the league standings, UNC Asheville men's basketball remained tied for the top spot in the Big South Conference men's basketball standings with an 89-68 win over Longwood at Kimmel Arena on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017.
The two teams would play close for much of the first half with the two tied at 17-all with 7:18 to play in the first stanza.
Asheville (12-6, 4-1 Big South Conference) from there would go on a 13-6 run to take a 30-23 lead with 3:44 left in the opening half of action. The Bulldogs would enter halftime with a 41-30 lead after a MaCio Teague jumper in the closing seconds of the half.
The Bulldogs would go ahead by as many as 24 points in the second half before collecting the 21-point win for their fourth straight victory.
Asheville shot over 50 percent as a team in its win for the second straight game with the Bulldogs shooting 54.8 percent (34-of-62) as a team. The Bulldogs were also strong from beyond the arc where they shot 45.5 percent (10-of-22) as a team.
Longwood (6-10, 3-2 Big South Conference) shot 44 percent (22-of-50) as a team in its loss to the Bulldogs.
Teague and Ahmad Thomas led the Bulldogs in their win with each posting 27 points. Teague also collected four rebounds, three assists and one steal, while Thomas added six rebounds, two steals and one assist to his scoring tally.
Drew Rackley was the final Bulldog in double figures with 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
Longwood was led by Khris Lane's game-high 32 points in its loss. He also had eight rebounds, a block and a steal.
BULLDOG BITES
DOUBLE THE PRODUCTION: With Thomas and Teague both posting 27 points in the Bulldog win it marked the second time in Asheville's five Big South Conference games thus far that two Bulldogs have scored 20 or more in a game. In Asheville's overtime win over Gardner-Webb on Dec. 31, 2016, Teague scored 25 points, while David Robertson finished with 23 points. Prior to the Gardner-Webb game the last time two Bulldogs had scored over 20 or more in the same game came against Longwood on Jan. 30, 2016, with Thomas scoring 21 and Dwayne Sutton finishing his efforts with 20 points in the Bulldogs' 88-74 win over the Lancers.
HOME SWEET HOME: The Bulldogs are 7-1 on the year at home. The Asheville men protected home court very efficiently last season as well, going 11-3 at home. UNC Asheville is 62-16 at Kimmel Arena all-time.
DISHING IT OUT: Kevin Vannatta ended Asheville's win with six assists for the second straight game. During league play so far, Vannatta has dished out six assists in three of the five games.
PROTECTING WHILE TAKING AWAY: UNC Asheville only turned the basketball over seven times against Longwood. The Bulldogs forced the Lancers into 12 turnovers though with the Bulldogs scoring 26 points off of the turnovers.
A LOOK AT THE LEAGUE: Asheville at 4-1 overall in Big South Conference play is now tied with Liberty (9-9, 4-1 Big South Conference) and Winthrop (12-4, 4-1 Big South Conference) for the league lead.
QUOTABLES
"I thought we made a couple of big plays towards the end of the first half that were key tonight. It was kind of a back and forth game there for the first 15-16 minutes and then we got a couple of big stops and a couple of big shots by MaCio late in the second half that allowed us to go into the locker room with a double-digit lead. I also didn't think we relaxed there in the second half. Sometimes you can tend to relax a little bit and then all of the sudden it's a one possession game again. I thought our team did a nice job of staying locked in and getting a good win here tonight." – Nick McDevitt
UP NEXT
UNC Asheville continues Big South Conference play by traveling to the Palmetto State to take on Charleston Southern at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2017.
The two teams would play close for much of the first half with the two tied at 17-all with 7:18 to play in the first stanza.
Asheville (12-6, 4-1 Big South Conference) from there would go on a 13-6 run to take a 30-23 lead with 3:44 left in the opening half of action. The Bulldogs would enter halftime with a 41-30 lead after a MaCio Teague jumper in the closing seconds of the half.
The Bulldogs would go ahead by as many as 24 points in the second half before collecting the 21-point win for their fourth straight victory.
Asheville shot over 50 percent as a team in its win for the second straight game with the Bulldogs shooting 54.8 percent (34-of-62) as a team. The Bulldogs were also strong from beyond the arc where they shot 45.5 percent (10-of-22) as a team.
Longwood (6-10, 3-2 Big South Conference) shot 44 percent (22-of-50) as a team in its loss to the Bulldogs.
Teague and Ahmad Thomas led the Bulldogs in their win with each posting 27 points. Teague also collected four rebounds, three assists and one steal, while Thomas added six rebounds, two steals and one assist to his scoring tally.
Drew Rackley was the final Bulldog in double figures with 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
Longwood was led by Khris Lane's game-high 32 points in its loss. He also had eight rebounds, a block and a steal.
BULLDOG BITES
DOUBLE THE PRODUCTION: With Thomas and Teague both posting 27 points in the Bulldog win it marked the second time in Asheville's five Big South Conference games thus far that two Bulldogs have scored 20 or more in a game. In Asheville's overtime win over Gardner-Webb on Dec. 31, 2016, Teague scored 25 points, while David Robertson finished with 23 points. Prior to the Gardner-Webb game the last time two Bulldogs had scored over 20 or more in the same game came against Longwood on Jan. 30, 2016, with Thomas scoring 21 and Dwayne Sutton finishing his efforts with 20 points in the Bulldogs' 88-74 win over the Lancers.
HOME SWEET HOME: The Bulldogs are 7-1 on the year at home. The Asheville men protected home court very efficiently last season as well, going 11-3 at home. UNC Asheville is 62-16 at Kimmel Arena all-time.
DISHING IT OUT: Kevin Vannatta ended Asheville's win with six assists for the second straight game. During league play so far, Vannatta has dished out six assists in three of the five games.
PROTECTING WHILE TAKING AWAY: UNC Asheville only turned the basketball over seven times against Longwood. The Bulldogs forced the Lancers into 12 turnovers though with the Bulldogs scoring 26 points off of the turnovers.
A LOOK AT THE LEAGUE: Asheville at 4-1 overall in Big South Conference play is now tied with Liberty (9-9, 4-1 Big South Conference) and Winthrop (12-4, 4-1 Big South Conference) for the league lead.
QUOTABLES
"I thought we made a couple of big plays towards the end of the first half that were key tonight. It was kind of a back and forth game there for the first 15-16 minutes and then we got a couple of big stops and a couple of big shots by MaCio late in the second half that allowed us to go into the locker room with a double-digit lead. I also didn't think we relaxed there in the second half. Sometimes you can tend to relax a little bit and then all of the sudden it's a one possession game again. I thought our team did a nice job of staying locked in and getting a good win here tonight." – Nick McDevitt
UP NEXT
UNC Asheville continues Big South Conference play by traveling to the Palmetto State to take on Charleston Southern at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2017.
Team Stats
LWU
AVL
FG%
.440
.548
3FG%
.214
.455
FT%
.750
.688
RB
30
34
TO
12
7
STL
5
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
27
FGM
11
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
27
FGM
9
3FGM
3
FTM
6
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballHighlights || Men's Basketball || #2 UNC Asheville vs #5 Longwood (Big South Tournament)
Monday, March 18
Highlights || Men's Basketball || #2 UNC Asheville vs #3 Gardner-Webb (Big South Tournament)
Monday, March 18
Highlights || Men's Basketball || #2 UNC Asheville vs #7 Charleston Southern (Big South Tournament)
Thursday, March 14
Highlights || Men's Basketball || UNC Asheville at Radford
Monday, March 04