University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Saturday, February 24
Boiling Springs, NC
4:30 PM
UNC Asheville
20-11, 13-5
61
at
72
Gardner-Webb
14-17, 9-9
1
2
F
UNC Asheville
36
25
61
Gardner-Webb
43
29
72
Photo by: Adrian Etheridge
Big South Champion Bulldogs Drop Regular-Season Finale
02.24.2018 | Men's Basketball
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – It was a historic day.
The historic day did not feature a UNC Asheville men's basketball victory with the Bulldogs falling 72-61 to Gardner-Webb, but it did not dampen the celebration too much.
And rightfully so with the 2018 Big South Conference Men's Basketball Championship now to be held this year in Asheville, N.C. due to the Bulldogs claiming the outright league regular-season title.
The outright title was made possible due to UNC Asheville's 89-75 win over Winthrop on Feb. 22. The victory put the Bulldogs one-game up on Winthrop in the league standings and with the Eagles falling to Charleston Southern on Saturday before UNC Asheville's season finale even started the Bulldogs could celebrate in the locker room before even taking the floor against Gardner-Webb.
The contest with commenced with UNC Asheville racing out to a 13-5 lead early on in the game. The Bulldog lead would be just two at 18-16 after a Raekwon Miller three-pointer with a little over 12 minutes left in the first half.
Asheville (20-11, 13-5 Big South Conference) would hold the lead for the majority of the next few minutes, but with 4:41 to play in the opening half the game would be tied at 32-all.
Gardner-Webb (14-17, 9-9 Big South Conference) would outscore the Bulldogs, 11-4, the rest of the half to take a 43-36 lead into intermission.
UNC Asheville closed out the first half shooting 50 percent (14-of-28) as a team, while Gardner-Webb shot 43.8 percent (14-of-32) in the first half.
Alec Wnuk and Raekwon Miller led UNC Asheville in the first half with eight points each.
Gardner-Webb would lead by as many as 11 in the early minutes of the second half and were up by 10 at 51-41 with 15:44 remaining.
The Bulldogs from there though would go on a run with the Asheville defense holding Gardner-Webb scoreless for over four minutes while at the same time going on an 8-0 run to pull within two at 51-49 with 11:30 left in the game. The Bulldogs were down just one at 53-52 shortly thereafter after a MaCio Teague three-pointer.
The two teams would keep things close over the ensuing minutes with UNC Asheville trailing Gardner-Webb, 64-61, with a little over three minutes remaining in the contest.
That would prove to be as close as Asheville would be able to get in the contest.
Three Bulldogs finished in double figures with Wnuk leading the way with 15 points. He also had five rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals.
Both Miller and Teague closed out their efforts with 11 points each. Miller had five rebounds, four assists and three steals, while Teague had three rebounds, two assists and one steal.
Gardner-Webb's Liam O'Reilly led all in the game with 24 points.
UNC Asheville as a team finished the contest shooting 39.7 percent (25-of-63), while Gardner-Webb shot 41.1 percent (23-of-56) as a team.
BULLDOG BITES
Big South Championship Tickets Go on Sale at 10 a.m. on Thursday
Tickets for the 2018 Big South Conference Men's Basketball Championship at Kimmel Arena inside the Sherrill Center will officially go on sale at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 25.
To purchase your tickets for the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of the championship, please visit www.uncabulldogs.universitytickets.com (link goes live at 10 a.m. on Sunday).
You can also purchase tickets by visiting the UNC Asheville box office starting on Monday, Feb. 26, at Kimmel Arena. You can call the UNC Asheville ticket office at 828-258-7900.
The Kimmel Arena box office will also be open 90 minutes prior to the start of game one of the championship on Thursday, March 1. Tickets will be sold for two daily sessions on Thursday (includes two games per session). The building will be cleared between sessions.
Tickets for the quarterfinal and semifinal round of the Big South Men's Basketball Championship for adults are $20 per session and $15 for seniors who are 65 and older with valid ID. Groups of 10-plus will also be able to purchase tickets for $15 per session. Children and college students will be able to purchase tickets for just $5.
UNC Asheville fans and season ticket holders, please note that this is a Big South Championship event, meaning that new tickets will have to be purchased for the championship.
Big South Regular-Season Title No. 7
UNC Asheville men's basketball picked up their seventh Big South Conference regular-season title (1996-97, 1997-98, 2001-02, 2007-08, 2011-12, 2016-17 and 2017-18) this season. Asheville head coach Nick McDevitt has been a part of six of the seven Big South Conference regular-season crowns either as a player, assistant coach or head coach (1997-98, 2001-02, 2007-08, 2011-12, 2016-17 and 2017-18).
2018 Big South Men's Basketball Championship in Asheville
To learn more about the 2018 Big South Men's Basketball Championship, please visit the official championship website HERE.
Quotable
"To know that you've won the championship before this game even started (was special). You're celebrating in the locker room before today's game even starts, which is why I told the team after the game that I liked the fact that they still wanted to win this game. To win a regular-season championship, it's a lot of hard work. Now, we've got to have everybody come out and support us in Asheville. It matters. For the home season finale against Winthrop, it mattered. We need that again big time this upcoming week." – Head Coach Nick McDevitt
The historic day did not feature a UNC Asheville men's basketball victory with the Bulldogs falling 72-61 to Gardner-Webb, but it did not dampen the celebration too much.
And rightfully so with the 2018 Big South Conference Men's Basketball Championship now to be held this year in Asheville, N.C. due to the Bulldogs claiming the outright league regular-season title.
The outright title was made possible due to UNC Asheville's 89-75 win over Winthrop on Feb. 22. The victory put the Bulldogs one-game up on Winthrop in the league standings and with the Eagles falling to Charleston Southern on Saturday before UNC Asheville's season finale even started the Bulldogs could celebrate in the locker room before even taking the floor against Gardner-Webb.
The contest with commenced with UNC Asheville racing out to a 13-5 lead early on in the game. The Bulldog lead would be just two at 18-16 after a Raekwon Miller three-pointer with a little over 12 minutes left in the first half.
Asheville (20-11, 13-5 Big South Conference) would hold the lead for the majority of the next few minutes, but with 4:41 to play in the opening half the game would be tied at 32-all.
Gardner-Webb (14-17, 9-9 Big South Conference) would outscore the Bulldogs, 11-4, the rest of the half to take a 43-36 lead into intermission.
UNC Asheville closed out the first half shooting 50 percent (14-of-28) as a team, while Gardner-Webb shot 43.8 percent (14-of-32) in the first half.
Alec Wnuk and Raekwon Miller led UNC Asheville in the first half with eight points each.
Gardner-Webb would lead by as many as 11 in the early minutes of the second half and were up by 10 at 51-41 with 15:44 remaining.
The Bulldogs from there though would go on a run with the Asheville defense holding Gardner-Webb scoreless for over four minutes while at the same time going on an 8-0 run to pull within two at 51-49 with 11:30 left in the game. The Bulldogs were down just one at 53-52 shortly thereafter after a MaCio Teague three-pointer.
The two teams would keep things close over the ensuing minutes with UNC Asheville trailing Gardner-Webb, 64-61, with a little over three minutes remaining in the contest.
That would prove to be as close as Asheville would be able to get in the contest.
Three Bulldogs finished in double figures with Wnuk leading the way with 15 points. He also had five rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals.
Both Miller and Teague closed out their efforts with 11 points each. Miller had five rebounds, four assists and three steals, while Teague had three rebounds, two assists and one steal.
Gardner-Webb's Liam O'Reilly led all in the game with 24 points.
UNC Asheville as a team finished the contest shooting 39.7 percent (25-of-63), while Gardner-Webb shot 41.1 percent (23-of-56) as a team.
BULLDOG BITES
Big South Championship Tickets Go on Sale at 10 a.m. on Thursday
Tickets for the 2018 Big South Conference Men's Basketball Championship at Kimmel Arena inside the Sherrill Center will officially go on sale at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 25.
To purchase your tickets for the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of the championship, please visit www.uncabulldogs.universitytickets.com (link goes live at 10 a.m. on Sunday).
You can also purchase tickets by visiting the UNC Asheville box office starting on Monday, Feb. 26, at Kimmel Arena. You can call the UNC Asheville ticket office at 828-258-7900.
The Kimmel Arena box office will also be open 90 minutes prior to the start of game one of the championship on Thursday, March 1. Tickets will be sold for two daily sessions on Thursday (includes two games per session). The building will be cleared between sessions.
Tickets for the quarterfinal and semifinal round of the Big South Men's Basketball Championship for adults are $20 per session and $15 for seniors who are 65 and older with valid ID. Groups of 10-plus will also be able to purchase tickets for $15 per session. Children and college students will be able to purchase tickets for just $5.
UNC Asheville fans and season ticket holders, please note that this is a Big South Championship event, meaning that new tickets will have to be purchased for the championship.
Big South Regular-Season Title No. 7
UNC Asheville men's basketball picked up their seventh Big South Conference regular-season title (1996-97, 1997-98, 2001-02, 2007-08, 2011-12, 2016-17 and 2017-18) this season. Asheville head coach Nick McDevitt has been a part of six of the seven Big South Conference regular-season crowns either as a player, assistant coach or head coach (1997-98, 2001-02, 2007-08, 2011-12, 2016-17 and 2017-18).
2018 Big South Men's Basketball Championship in Asheville
To learn more about the 2018 Big South Men's Basketball Championship, please visit the official championship website HERE.
Quotable
"To know that you've won the championship before this game even started (was special). You're celebrating in the locker room before today's game even starts, which is why I told the team after the game that I liked the fact that they still wanted to win this game. To win a regular-season championship, it's a lot of hard work. Now, we've got to have everybody come out and support us in Asheville. It matters. For the home season finale against Winthrop, it mattered. We need that again big time this upcoming week." – Head Coach Nick McDevitt
Team Stats
AVL
GWU
FG%
.411
.397
3FG%
.222
.391
FT%
.643
.684
RB
30
51
TO
9
10
STL
7
4
Game Leaders
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
Highlights || 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