University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Sunday, January 21
Lynchburg, VA
2:00 PM
UNC Asheville
12-9, 5-3BSC
84
at
68
Liberty
12-9, 3-5BSC
1
2
F
UNC Asheville
51
33
84
Liberty
32
36
68
Photo by: Adrian Etheridge
Dominating Start Helps Propel UNC Asheville to 13th Straight Win Over Liberty
01.21.2018 | Men's Basketball
LYNCHBURG, Va. – UNC Asheville utilized a dominating start to pick up an impressive 84-68 road win over Liberty on Sunday, Jan. 21, at the Vines Center.
The victory over Liberty (12-9, 3-5 Big South Conference) was UNC Asheville's 13th straight over the Flames.
UNC Asheville (12-9, 5-3 Big South Conference) came out firing in the game with the Bulldogs starting the game on a 13-2 run that was punctuated by a Kevin Vannatta three-pointer. Ahmad Thomas scored the first seven points in the game for the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs would keep rolling over the opening minutes of the contest with UNC Asheville eventually scoring 21 of the first 25 points in the game to own a 21-4 lead with 13:11 to play in the first half after a MaCio Teague three-pointer.
UNC Asheville would make eight of its first nine three-pointers in the game with the Bulldogs ending the first stanza shooting 11-of-15 (73.3 percent) from beyond the arc. Vannatta led the Bulldogs in the first half with five made three-pointers.
The Bulldogs closed the first half shooting 66.7 percent (16-of-24) as a team. UNC Asheville limited Liberty to just 35.5 percent (11-of-31) shooting in the first half. Liberty made just one of its 10 three-point attempts (10 percent) in the first half.
The second half would be played close with Liberty narrowly outscoring the Bulldogs, 36-33, in the half, but it was not nearly enough with UNC Asheville cruising to the 16-point win.
UNC Asheville finished the game shooting 62.5 percent (30-of-48) as a team. Liberty shot 41.1 percent (23-of-56) as a team in the contest.
Four Bulldogs finished in double figures with Vannatta and Thomas both leading the way with 23 points each.
Thomas was 9-of-14 from the field en route to his 23 points. He also had six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Vannatta was an impressive 8-of-11 from the field overall in collecting his 23 points. He also had seven rebounds, four assists and one steal.
Raekwon Miller continued his impressive play in conference play with 12 points, four assists and two rebounds, while Teague had 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting. Teague also had four assists, one rebound and one steal.
Jonathan Baehre just missed on double-digit rebounds in the game with nine for the Bulldogs.
Three finished in double figures for Liberty with Scottie James leading the way with 19 points.
BULLDOG BITES
Vicious Vannatta
Kevin Vannatta played with fire in the win at Liberty with the senior guard knocking down a career-high tying five three-pointers. It's the second time this season that he has knocked down five treys in a game. He also had five made three-pointers in the win over Monmouth earlier this season. Vannatta just missed on tying his career-best of 25 points set in that Monmouth game with his season conference-best 23 points in the victory over Liberty.
Bulldogs Proficient from Downtown
UNC Asheville connected on a season-best 15 three-pointers as a team in the win over Liberty. The Bulldogs shot a season-best 62.5 percent (15-of-24) from beyond the arc as a team in the victory. Seven different Bulldogs had at least one three-pointer made in the win over Liberty. Kevin Vannatta led the Bulldogs with his five made three-pointers.
20 for 20
With Kevin Vannatta and Ahmad Thomas both scoring 23 points in the win at Liberty it marked the second time this season that two Bulldogs had scored over 20 in the same game. Thomas (24) and MaCio Teague (22) both had over 20 points in UNC Asheville's home win over USC Upstate earlier this season.
Assisting Others
UNC Asheville had 20 assists on 30 made field goals in the win over Liberty. The Bulldogs now have five games this season with 20 or more assists as a team.
Thomas Continues Strong Play Against Liberty
Ahmad Thomas continued his strong play in his career against Liberty with his 23 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Thomas has now scored over 20 against Liberty four times in his career. His career-best of 31 points came in UNC Asheville's home win over Liberty on Feb. 25, 2017.
Series
UNC Asheville and Liberty met for the 60th time on Sunday. The Bulldogs now own a 40-20 all-time series advantage with Asheville having won the last 13 meetings.
Up Next
UNC Asheville is asking all fans to wear white for a "Wednesday Night White Out" when the Bulldogs play host to Gardner-Webb at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 24. The latest installment of "The Battle of the Bulldogs" gives free admission to all UNC Asheville and Gardner-Webb students with ID. It is also Madison County Night with all fans from the area encouraged to support their own in area native in UNC Asheville men's basketball head coach Nick McDevitt.
The contest will also be available locally on TV on WMYA-TV, My 40 and on the radio on 570 WWNC-ASHEVILLE/1440 WMXF-WAYNESVILLE.
Quotable
The victory over Liberty (12-9, 3-5 Big South Conference) was UNC Asheville's 13th straight over the Flames.
UNC Asheville (12-9, 5-3 Big South Conference) came out firing in the game with the Bulldogs starting the game on a 13-2 run that was punctuated by a Kevin Vannatta three-pointer. Ahmad Thomas scored the first seven points in the game for the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs would keep rolling over the opening minutes of the contest with UNC Asheville eventually scoring 21 of the first 25 points in the game to own a 21-4 lead with 13:11 to play in the first half after a MaCio Teague three-pointer.
UNC Asheville would make eight of its first nine three-pointers in the game with the Bulldogs ending the first stanza shooting 11-of-15 (73.3 percent) from beyond the arc. Vannatta led the Bulldogs in the first half with five made three-pointers.
The Bulldogs closed the first half shooting 66.7 percent (16-of-24) as a team. UNC Asheville limited Liberty to just 35.5 percent (11-of-31) shooting in the first half. Liberty made just one of its 10 three-point attempts (10 percent) in the first half.
The second half would be played close with Liberty narrowly outscoring the Bulldogs, 36-33, in the half, but it was not nearly enough with UNC Asheville cruising to the 16-point win.
UNC Asheville finished the game shooting 62.5 percent (30-of-48) as a team. Liberty shot 41.1 percent (23-of-56) as a team in the contest.
Four Bulldogs finished in double figures with Vannatta and Thomas both leading the way with 23 points each.
Thomas was 9-of-14 from the field en route to his 23 points. He also had six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Vannatta was an impressive 8-of-11 from the field overall in collecting his 23 points. He also had seven rebounds, four assists and one steal.
Raekwon Miller continued his impressive play in conference play with 12 points, four assists and two rebounds, while Teague had 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting. Teague also had four assists, one rebound and one steal.
Jonathan Baehre just missed on double-digit rebounds in the game with nine for the Bulldogs.
Three finished in double figures for Liberty with Scottie James leading the way with 19 points.
BULLDOG BITES
Vicious Vannatta
Kevin Vannatta played with fire in the win at Liberty with the senior guard knocking down a career-high tying five three-pointers. It's the second time this season that he has knocked down five treys in a game. He also had five made three-pointers in the win over Monmouth earlier this season. Vannatta just missed on tying his career-best of 25 points set in that Monmouth game with his season conference-best 23 points in the victory over Liberty.
Bulldogs Proficient from Downtown
UNC Asheville connected on a season-best 15 three-pointers as a team in the win over Liberty. The Bulldogs shot a season-best 62.5 percent (15-of-24) from beyond the arc as a team in the victory. Seven different Bulldogs had at least one three-pointer made in the win over Liberty. Kevin Vannatta led the Bulldogs with his five made three-pointers.
20 for 20
With Kevin Vannatta and Ahmad Thomas both scoring 23 points in the win at Liberty it marked the second time this season that two Bulldogs had scored over 20 in the same game. Thomas (24) and MaCio Teague (22) both had over 20 points in UNC Asheville's home win over USC Upstate earlier this season.
Assisting Others
UNC Asheville had 20 assists on 30 made field goals in the win over Liberty. The Bulldogs now have five games this season with 20 or more assists as a team.
Thomas Continues Strong Play Against Liberty
Ahmad Thomas continued his strong play in his career against Liberty with his 23 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Thomas has now scored over 20 against Liberty four times in his career. His career-best of 31 points came in UNC Asheville's home win over Liberty on Feb. 25, 2017.
Series
UNC Asheville and Liberty met for the 60th time on Sunday. The Bulldogs now own a 40-20 all-time series advantage with Asheville having won the last 13 meetings.
Up Next
UNC Asheville is asking all fans to wear white for a "Wednesday Night White Out" when the Bulldogs play host to Gardner-Webb at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 24. The latest installment of "The Battle of the Bulldogs" gives free admission to all UNC Asheville and Gardner-Webb students with ID. It is also Madison County Night with all fans from the area encouraged to support their own in area native in UNC Asheville men's basketball head coach Nick McDevitt.
The contest will also be available locally on TV on WMYA-TV, My 40 and on the radio on 570 WWNC-ASHEVILLE/1440 WMXF-WAYNESVILLE.
Quotable
Team Stats
AVL
LIBERTY
FG%
.625
.411
3FG%
.625
.278
FT%
.750
.810
RB
33
24
TO
19
12
STL
6
6
Game Leaders
Pts
23
FGM
8
3FGM
5
FTM
2
Pts
23
FGM
9
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
12
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
4
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
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