University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Thursday, January 19
Rock Hill, SC
9:00 p.m.
UNC Asheville
13-7, 5-2
73
at
76
Winthrop
14-4, 6-1
1
2
F
Asheville
41
32
73
WINTHROP
36
40
76
Photo by: UNC Asheville
Rivalry Once Again Lives Up to Billing as Bulldogs Narrowly Fall to Eagles
01.20.2017 | Men's Basketball
ROCK HILL, S.C. - In what has been a normal occurrence in the Big South Conference rivalry between UNC Asheville and Winthrop it came down to the wire with the Eagles taking a narrow 76-73 win over the Bulldogs in a nationally-televised game on ESPNU at the Winthrop Coliseum on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017.
Junior guard Ahmad Thomas opened the game for UNC Asheville (13-7, 5-2 Big South Conference) by collecting the first points of the contest on a three-pointer to give the Bulldogs a very early 3-0 advantage over Winthrop (14-4, 6-1 Big South Conference).
In a fun opening few minutes that saw both teams really pushing the pace it would be Asheville that owned a five-point 13-8 lead after a three-pointer by junior guard Raekwon Miller with 14:45 to go in half No. 1. The Bulldogs would lead 18-11 just a little bit later, but with just over nine minutes left in the first half the game would be tied at 20-20.
The Bulldogs from there would go on an 8-2 run to take a 28-22 lead after another Miller three-pointer with exactly six minutes remaining in the opening stanza.
Asheville would keep extending its lead from there with the Bulldogs ahead of the Eagles, 39-28, after an acrobatic fast break layup by Miller.
The Bulldogs would own a 41-36 advantage at the halftime break. Asheville shot 51.6 percent (16-of-31) as a team in the first half of action.
Asheville commenced the second half by scoring the first five points to once again extend its lead to double digits at 46-36.
The 10-point lead for the Bulldogs would not last long though with the Eagles going on a run of their own to take a 49-48 lead with 13:03 left in the contest.
The Bulldogs would go on to not be able to connect on a field goal for the next 11 minutes, but nevertheless Asheville was able to withstand the storm behind free throws.
Asheville's efforts in other areas during the stretch allowed the Bulldogs to tie things up at 65-65 with 5:49 left in the game.
Shortly thereafter the Bulldogs behind what would amount to an 11-0 run after a Thomas three-point play would lead by three at 68-65 with 5:24 to play in the game.
The two teams would play back and forth the rest of the way, but it would be the Eagles who owned a 76-73 lead with 1:30 to play.
The Bulldogs would have a chance to tie the game in the final seconds, but Teague's three-point attempt just rimmed out to allow the Eagles to pick up the narrow three-point win.
Thomas led three Bulldogs in double figures with a career-high-tying 27 points to go along with six rebounds and three steals. Thomas connected on a career-high-tying three treys.
MaCio Teague ended his evening with 15 points, six rebounds and two assists, while Miller had 13 points, one rebound, one block and one steal.
Winthrop's Xavier Cooks surpassed 1,000 points in his career in the game en route to finishing with a team-best 19 points and 13 rebounds in the Eagle win.
Asheville shot 41.5 percent (22-of-53) overall, while the Eagles shot 42.1 percent (24-of-57).
BULLDOG BITES
CAREER DAY: Thomas has now scored 27 points four times in his Bulldog career. He has scored 27 in two of the last three games as he also had 27 points in Asheville's 89-68 win over Longwood at Kimmel Arena on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017.
FIRST OF THE YEAR: Asheville's loss to Winthrop marked the first Bulldogs' loss of the year when they were leading at halftime. They had entered the matchup with Winthrop 10-0 on the year when leading at halftime. The Bulldogs held a 41-36 lead over the Eagles at intermission.
QUOTABLES
"It was a good college basketball game. Congratulations to Winthrop. I told our guys that I was really proud of their effort for the entire game. I thought they played hard. Winthrop did as well. I like the fact that the folks watching nationally got to see two teams get after it. Unfortunately, our execution wasn't there the whole game, particularly down the stretch. It just wasn't good enough to beat a team that is as good as Winthrop on the road. The effort was there. We were trying to make plays. We just didn't execute enough on both ends of the floor." – Head Coach Nick McDevitt
UP NEXT
UNC Asheville welcomes Campbell to Kimmel Arena for a 4:30 p.m. Big South Conference game on Saturday, Jan. 21. The game will be part of a doubleheader at Kimmel Arena with the Asheville women set to take on Liberty at 2 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN3. They will also be available on the WatchESPN App.
Junior guard Ahmad Thomas opened the game for UNC Asheville (13-7, 5-2 Big South Conference) by collecting the first points of the contest on a three-pointer to give the Bulldogs a very early 3-0 advantage over Winthrop (14-4, 6-1 Big South Conference).
In a fun opening few minutes that saw both teams really pushing the pace it would be Asheville that owned a five-point 13-8 lead after a three-pointer by junior guard Raekwon Miller with 14:45 to go in half No. 1. The Bulldogs would lead 18-11 just a little bit later, but with just over nine minutes left in the first half the game would be tied at 20-20.
The Bulldogs from there would go on an 8-2 run to take a 28-22 lead after another Miller three-pointer with exactly six minutes remaining in the opening stanza.
Asheville would keep extending its lead from there with the Bulldogs ahead of the Eagles, 39-28, after an acrobatic fast break layup by Miller.
The Bulldogs would own a 41-36 advantage at the halftime break. Asheville shot 51.6 percent (16-of-31) as a team in the first half of action.
Asheville commenced the second half by scoring the first five points to once again extend its lead to double digits at 46-36.
The 10-point lead for the Bulldogs would not last long though with the Eagles going on a run of their own to take a 49-48 lead with 13:03 left in the contest.
The Bulldogs would go on to not be able to connect on a field goal for the next 11 minutes, but nevertheless Asheville was able to withstand the storm behind free throws.
Asheville's efforts in other areas during the stretch allowed the Bulldogs to tie things up at 65-65 with 5:49 left in the game.
Shortly thereafter the Bulldogs behind what would amount to an 11-0 run after a Thomas three-point play would lead by three at 68-65 with 5:24 to play in the game.
The two teams would play back and forth the rest of the way, but it would be the Eagles who owned a 76-73 lead with 1:30 to play.
The Bulldogs would have a chance to tie the game in the final seconds, but Teague's three-point attempt just rimmed out to allow the Eagles to pick up the narrow three-point win.
Thomas led three Bulldogs in double figures with a career-high-tying 27 points to go along with six rebounds and three steals. Thomas connected on a career-high-tying three treys.
MaCio Teague ended his evening with 15 points, six rebounds and two assists, while Miller had 13 points, one rebound, one block and one steal.
Winthrop's Xavier Cooks surpassed 1,000 points in his career in the game en route to finishing with a team-best 19 points and 13 rebounds in the Eagle win.
Asheville shot 41.5 percent (22-of-53) overall, while the Eagles shot 42.1 percent (24-of-57).
BULLDOG BITES
CAREER DAY: Thomas has now scored 27 points four times in his Bulldog career. He has scored 27 in two of the last three games as he also had 27 points in Asheville's 89-68 win over Longwood at Kimmel Arena on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017.
FIRST OF THE YEAR: Asheville's loss to Winthrop marked the first Bulldogs' loss of the year when they were leading at halftime. They had entered the matchup with Winthrop 10-0 on the year when leading at halftime. The Bulldogs held a 41-36 lead over the Eagles at intermission.
QUOTABLES
"It was a good college basketball game. Congratulations to Winthrop. I told our guys that I was really proud of their effort for the entire game. I thought they played hard. Winthrop did as well. I like the fact that the folks watching nationally got to see two teams get after it. Unfortunately, our execution wasn't there the whole game, particularly down the stretch. It just wasn't good enough to beat a team that is as good as Winthrop on the road. The effort was there. We were trying to make plays. We just didn't execute enough on both ends of the floor." – Head Coach Nick McDevitt
UP NEXT
UNC Asheville welcomes Campbell to Kimmel Arena for a 4:30 p.m. Big South Conference game on Saturday, Jan. 21. The game will be part of a doubleheader at Kimmel Arena with the Asheville women set to take on Liberty at 2 p.m. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN3. They will also be available on the WatchESPN App.
Team Stats
AVL
WINTHROP
FG%
.415
.421
3FG%
.333
.300
FT%
.742
.731
RB
33
40
TO
16
15
STL
6
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
27
FGM
10
3FGM
3
FTM
4
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
13
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
5
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
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