University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Saturday, January 14
Charleston, SC
5:30 p.m.
UNC Asheville
13-6 (5-1)
76
at
67
Charleston Southern
5-12 (1-5)
1
2
F
Asheville
25
51
76
Charleston So.
33
34
67
Photo by: UNC Asheville
Dominating Second Half Allows Bulldogs to Pick Up Fifth Straight Win
01.14.2017 | Men's Basketball
CHARLESTON, S.C. – A dominating second half performance allowed UNC Asheville men's basketball to pick up a 76-67 road win over Charleston Southern at the Buc Dome on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2017.
UNC Asheville's fifth straight win allowed the Bulldogs (13-6, 5-1 Big South Conference) to remain tied atop the Big South Conference standings.
It was Charleston Southern (5-12, 1-5 Big South Conference) that garnered the early lead with the Buccaneers leading the Bulldogs, 17-6, with 11:49 left in the opening half of action. The Bulldogs would trail 23-11 with just under eight minutes remaining in half No. 1.
Asheville from there would go on a 7-0 run to trail the Buccaneers by just five at 23-18 after a Kevin Vannatta layup with 5:11 to go in the first half.
Down the stretch of the first half at one point, UNC Asheville held the Buccaneers without a field goal for 2:36 before the two teams entered the halftime break with Charleston Southern owning a 33-25 advantage.
The second half would commence with the Bulldogs going on an 18-9 run over the first almost seven and a half minutes of the half. The strong start to the half garnered Asheville a 43-42 lead with 12:36 remaining in the game. The Bulldogs owned a 46-44 lead after a Vannatta three-pointer with 12:03 left in the contest.
One of the big reasons for the Bulldogs' ability to make the run over the course of the opening minutes of the second half is that they held Charleston Southern for almost 4:47 without a field goal.
The two teams would play close over the next few minutes, but after a MaCio Teague jumper with 4:05 left in the contest the Bulldogs had picked up their largest lead of the game up to that point in time at 65-58.
On the back of a 10-0 run over the course of an almost three-minute stretch in the closing minutes of the second half the Asheville lead would be nine at 67-58 with 3:41 to play in the contest.
The Bulldogs would lead by as many as 13, but that nine-point advantage would be the same as the final score at 76-67. Asheville outscored Charleston Southern, 51-34, in the second stanza.
Four Bulldogs ended their efforts in double figures with Teague leading the way with 18 points, four rebounds and three assists. Ahmad Thomas added 14 points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists, while David Robertson had 13 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
The final Bulldog in double figures, Vannatta ended his day with 12 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Christian Keeling led four Buccaneers in double figures in their loss with 19 points.
Asheville concluded its win shooting 43.9 percent (25-of-57) as a team, while Charleston Southern shot 42.1 percent (24-of-57) as a team.
BULLDOG BITES
DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE: Twice during the second half the Bulldogs held Charleston Southern without a field goal for well over four minutes. During the closing minutes of the second half, Asheville's defense held the Buccaneers to 0-of-9 shooting during an almost five-minute stretch.
PERFECT: Teague led all Bulldogs in the game with 18 points, but he did it the hard way by scoring 12 of his 18 points from the free throw line where he was a perfect 12-of-12.
A LOOK AT THE LEAGUE: Asheville at 5-1 overall in Big South Conference play is now tied with Liberty (10-9, 5-1 Big South Conference) and Winthrop (13-4, 5-1 Big South Conference) for the league lead.
BIG SOUTH UNVEILS NEW BRAND IDENTITY (Per the Big South Conference): "The Big South Confernece today introduces its new brand identity that epitomizes the league's strong commitment to its student-athletes and re-establishes the Conference's vitality, personality and longstanding success in NCAA Division I collegiate athletics under a new mantra – 'Where Winners Are Made.'" Full Release Here
QUOTABLES
"At the half we only had five assists and we ended up with 14. We just weren't moving the basketball or our bodies enough and when you get stagnant like that you get awfully easy to defend and I just thought we were easy to defend in the first half and then in the second half we finally let the defensive end start generating some energy for us on the other end of the floor." – Head Coach Nick McDevitt
UP NEXT
ESPNU has selected the UNC Asheville at Winthrop men's basketball contest scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 19, as its Big South Wildcard Selection broadcast. Game time will be 9 p.m. inside the Winthrop Coliseum in Rock Hill, S.C. Robert Lee (play-by-play) and Nate Ross (analyst) will handle the call from courtside. "We are incredibly thankful ESPNU has picked this game as a Wildcard Selection broadcast," UNC Asheville head men's basketball coach Nick McDevitt said. "We consider this to be one of the best rivalries in all of college basketball, and we are really excited that the first of our meetings this year will be featured on national television."
UNC Asheville's fifth straight win allowed the Bulldogs (13-6, 5-1 Big South Conference) to remain tied atop the Big South Conference standings.
It was Charleston Southern (5-12, 1-5 Big South Conference) that garnered the early lead with the Buccaneers leading the Bulldogs, 17-6, with 11:49 left in the opening half of action. The Bulldogs would trail 23-11 with just under eight minutes remaining in half No. 1.
Asheville from there would go on a 7-0 run to trail the Buccaneers by just five at 23-18 after a Kevin Vannatta layup with 5:11 to go in the first half.
Down the stretch of the first half at one point, UNC Asheville held the Buccaneers without a field goal for 2:36 before the two teams entered the halftime break with Charleston Southern owning a 33-25 advantage.
The second half would commence with the Bulldogs going on an 18-9 run over the first almost seven and a half minutes of the half. The strong start to the half garnered Asheville a 43-42 lead with 12:36 remaining in the game. The Bulldogs owned a 46-44 lead after a Vannatta three-pointer with 12:03 left in the contest.
One of the big reasons for the Bulldogs' ability to make the run over the course of the opening minutes of the second half is that they held Charleston Southern for almost 4:47 without a field goal.
The two teams would play close over the next few minutes, but after a MaCio Teague jumper with 4:05 left in the contest the Bulldogs had picked up their largest lead of the game up to that point in time at 65-58.
On the back of a 10-0 run over the course of an almost three-minute stretch in the closing minutes of the second half the Asheville lead would be nine at 67-58 with 3:41 to play in the contest.
The Bulldogs would lead by as many as 13, but that nine-point advantage would be the same as the final score at 76-67. Asheville outscored Charleston Southern, 51-34, in the second stanza.
Four Bulldogs ended their efforts in double figures with Teague leading the way with 18 points, four rebounds and three assists. Ahmad Thomas added 14 points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists, while David Robertson had 13 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
The final Bulldog in double figures, Vannatta ended his day with 12 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Christian Keeling led four Buccaneers in double figures in their loss with 19 points.
Asheville concluded its win shooting 43.9 percent (25-of-57) as a team, while Charleston Southern shot 42.1 percent (24-of-57) as a team.
BULLDOG BITES
DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE: Twice during the second half the Bulldogs held Charleston Southern without a field goal for well over four minutes. During the closing minutes of the second half, Asheville's defense held the Buccaneers to 0-of-9 shooting during an almost five-minute stretch.
PERFECT: Teague led all Bulldogs in the game with 18 points, but he did it the hard way by scoring 12 of his 18 points from the free throw line where he was a perfect 12-of-12.
A LOOK AT THE LEAGUE: Asheville at 5-1 overall in Big South Conference play is now tied with Liberty (10-9, 5-1 Big South Conference) and Winthrop (13-4, 5-1 Big South Conference) for the league lead.
BIG SOUTH UNVEILS NEW BRAND IDENTITY (Per the Big South Conference): "The Big South Confernece today introduces its new brand identity that epitomizes the league's strong commitment to its student-athletes and re-establishes the Conference's vitality, personality and longstanding success in NCAA Division I collegiate athletics under a new mantra – 'Where Winners Are Made.'" Full Release Here
QUOTABLES
"At the half we only had five assists and we ended up with 14. We just weren't moving the basketball or our bodies enough and when you get stagnant like that you get awfully easy to defend and I just thought we were easy to defend in the first half and then in the second half we finally let the defensive end start generating some energy for us on the other end of the floor." – Head Coach Nick McDevitt
UP NEXT
ESPNU has selected the UNC Asheville at Winthrop men's basketball contest scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 19, as its Big South Wildcard Selection broadcast. Game time will be 9 p.m. inside the Winthrop Coliseum in Rock Hill, S.C. Robert Lee (play-by-play) and Nate Ross (analyst) will handle the call from courtside. "We are incredibly thankful ESPNU has picked this game as a Wildcard Selection broadcast," UNC Asheville head men's basketball coach Nick McDevitt said. "We consider this to be one of the best rivalries in all of college basketball, and we are really excited that the first of our meetings this year will be featured on national television."
Team Stats
AVL
CSU
FG%
.439
.421
3FG%
.316
.259
FT%
.690
.667
RB
40
34
TO
12
14
STL
9
3
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
18
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
12
Pts
14
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
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