University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Saturday, January 28
Asheville, NC
12:00 p.m.
UNC Asheville
(16-7, 8-2BSC)
80
vs
69
Radford
(9-13, 4-6BSC)
1
2
F
Radford
31
38
69
Asheville
39
41
80
Photo by: UNC Asheville
Bulldogs Back in First Place in the Big South After Win Over Radford
01.28.2017 | Men's Basketball
McDevitt to Become a Subway Sandwich Artist for a Great Cause on Wednesday, Feb. 1 (story)
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Five different Bulldogs concluded their efforts in double figures to lead the UNC Asheville men's basketball team to an 80-69 victory over Radford in a nationally-televised game on the American Sports Network at Kimmel Arena on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017.
Asheville (16-7, 8-2 Big South Conference) basically led from start-to-finish in the game with the Bulldogs taking the lead back for good from Radford in the opening couple of minutes of the contest. In total, Asheville led for 38:24 of the game.
The Bulldogs would score 16 of the first 20 points of the game to own a 16-4 advantage with 13:27 left in the opening stanza.
Asheville would lead by 16 after a three-pointer by freshman guard MaCio Teague with 7:59 left in the first half, but from there the Highlanders (9-13, 4-6 Big South Conference) would go on a run of their own to pull within four at 33-29 with 3:08 to go in the first half of action.
The Bulldogs would close the first half on a 6-2 run to own a 39-31 lead at intermission after a layup in the final seconds of the half by senior forward Giacomo Zilli.
Winners of eight of its last nine, Asheville would control things once again in the second half, going up by as many as 19 points with 6:09 left in the game before ending things with the 11-point victory.
Bulldog junior guard Ahmad Thomas collected his second consecutive and third double-double of the year in Asheville's win over Radford with 19 points and a career-best 13 rebounds. He also had two assists, two steals and one block. Thomas was 7-of-12 from the field in the Asheville win, including a perfect 2-of-2 from beyond the arc.
Junior guard Kevin Vannatta ended the Bulldog victory with 16 points and four rebounds, while Teague finished with 13 points, four rebounds, two assists and one steal.
Senior guard David Robertson and Zilli each ended their efforts with 11 points.
Darius Bolstad was the top scorer for the Highlanders, coming off the bench in the contest to finish with 19 points on 9-of-10 shooting. He also had eight rebounds.
As a team, the Bulldogs shot 47.4 percent (27-of-57) from the field and 7-of-14 (50 percent) from beyond the arc. The Bulldog defense limited Radford to just 10-of-30 (33.3 percent) from beyond the arc and 39.7 percent (25-of-63) overall.
BULLDOG BITES
BACK IN FIRST: With Winthrop (16-5, 8-2 Big South Conference) falling to High Point, 83-80, in overtime at home on Saturday, UNC Asheville moves back into a three-way tie with the Eagles and Liberty (13-10, 8-2 Big South Conference) for the lead in the Big South Conference.
HOME SWEET HOME: The Bulldogs are now 9-1 on the year at home. UNC Asheville is 64-16 at Kimmel Arena all-time. Asheville is 44-10 all-time in Big South Conference contests played at Kimmel Arena.
ZILLI BLOCK PARTY: Giacomo Zilli tied his career high with three blocks in the win over Radford. Zilli also had three blocks in an 87-48 win over Johnson & Wales at Kimmel Arena on Nov. 19, 2014.
SERIES: The all-time series between UNC Asheville and Radford is now tied at 35-35. The two teams split this year's regular-season series with the Highlanders originally taking an 80-77 overtime win over the Bulldogs in the first meeting on Dec. 29, 2016, before Asheville picked up the 80-69 win over the Highlanders at Kimmel Arena on Saturday.
QUOTABLES
"I thought for such a quick turnaround (from the 73-47 win over Presbyterian in Clinton, S.C. on Thursday, Jan. 26) we had good energy to start the game particularly. It was pretty much a 36-hour turnaround and I thought we came out focused and alert to start the game." – Head Coach Nick McDevitt
UP NEXT
UNC Asheville opens the month of February by welcoming Charleston Southern to Kimmel Arena for a 7 p.m. contest on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Five different Bulldogs concluded their efforts in double figures to lead the UNC Asheville men's basketball team to an 80-69 victory over Radford in a nationally-televised game on the American Sports Network at Kimmel Arena on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2017.
Asheville (16-7, 8-2 Big South Conference) basically led from start-to-finish in the game with the Bulldogs taking the lead back for good from Radford in the opening couple of minutes of the contest. In total, Asheville led for 38:24 of the game.
The Bulldogs would score 16 of the first 20 points of the game to own a 16-4 advantage with 13:27 left in the opening stanza.
Asheville would lead by 16 after a three-pointer by freshman guard MaCio Teague with 7:59 left in the first half, but from there the Highlanders (9-13, 4-6 Big South Conference) would go on a run of their own to pull within four at 33-29 with 3:08 to go in the first half of action.
The Bulldogs would close the first half on a 6-2 run to own a 39-31 lead at intermission after a layup in the final seconds of the half by senior forward Giacomo Zilli.
Winners of eight of its last nine, Asheville would control things once again in the second half, going up by as many as 19 points with 6:09 left in the game before ending things with the 11-point victory.
Bulldog junior guard Ahmad Thomas collected his second consecutive and third double-double of the year in Asheville's win over Radford with 19 points and a career-best 13 rebounds. He also had two assists, two steals and one block. Thomas was 7-of-12 from the field in the Asheville win, including a perfect 2-of-2 from beyond the arc.
Junior guard Kevin Vannatta ended the Bulldog victory with 16 points and four rebounds, while Teague finished with 13 points, four rebounds, two assists and one steal.
Senior guard David Robertson and Zilli each ended their efforts with 11 points.
Darius Bolstad was the top scorer for the Highlanders, coming off the bench in the contest to finish with 19 points on 9-of-10 shooting. He also had eight rebounds.
As a team, the Bulldogs shot 47.4 percent (27-of-57) from the field and 7-of-14 (50 percent) from beyond the arc. The Bulldog defense limited Radford to just 10-of-30 (33.3 percent) from beyond the arc and 39.7 percent (25-of-63) overall.
BULLDOG BITES
BACK IN FIRST: With Winthrop (16-5, 8-2 Big South Conference) falling to High Point, 83-80, in overtime at home on Saturday, UNC Asheville moves back into a three-way tie with the Eagles and Liberty (13-10, 8-2 Big South Conference) for the lead in the Big South Conference.
HOME SWEET HOME: The Bulldogs are now 9-1 on the year at home. UNC Asheville is 64-16 at Kimmel Arena all-time. Asheville is 44-10 all-time in Big South Conference contests played at Kimmel Arena.
ZILLI BLOCK PARTY: Giacomo Zilli tied his career high with three blocks in the win over Radford. Zilli also had three blocks in an 87-48 win over Johnson & Wales at Kimmel Arena on Nov. 19, 2014.
SERIES: The all-time series between UNC Asheville and Radford is now tied at 35-35. The two teams split this year's regular-season series with the Highlanders originally taking an 80-77 overtime win over the Bulldogs in the first meeting on Dec. 29, 2016, before Asheville picked up the 80-69 win over the Highlanders at Kimmel Arena on Saturday.
QUOTABLES
"I thought for such a quick turnaround (from the 73-47 win over Presbyterian in Clinton, S.C. on Thursday, Jan. 26) we had good energy to start the game particularly. It was pretty much a 36-hour turnaround and I thought we came out focused and alert to start the game." – Head Coach Nick McDevitt
UP NEXT
UNC Asheville opens the month of February by welcoming Charleston Southern to Kimmel Arena for a 7 p.m. contest on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017.
Team Stats
RAD
AVL
FG%
.397
.474
3FG%
.333
.500
FT%
.818
.633
RB
35
40
TO
11
11
STL
3
6
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
5
Players Mentioned
G
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