University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Wednesday, November 13
Winston-Salem, NC
7 p.m.
UNC Asheville
1-2,0-0Big Sout
79
at
98
Wake Forest
2-1,0-1ACC
1
2
F
UNC Asheville
44
35
79
Wake Forest
49
49
98
Bulldogs Unable to Overcome Late Run By Wake Forest
11.13.2019 | Men's Basketball
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Despite rallying to tie the game in the second half, UNC Asheville's men's basketball team fell on the road to Wake Forest, 98-79, Wednesday night at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Redshirt sophomore Tajion Jones scored 22 points to lead the Bulldogs (1-2) in scoring, marking the second straight game Jones eclipsed 20 points. Sophomore DeVon Baker added 17 points to the cause, including 10 in the second half.
The Demon Deacons (2-1, 1-1 ACC) owned a decided advantage in field goal percentage, hitting 70.2 percent of their shots, compared to 47.2 percent from the Bulldogs.
Wake Forest came out firing from the tip off, hitting its first nine shots from the field to take a 17-9 lead into the first media timeout. Jones helped the Bulldogs stay in the thick of things, scoring 10 points in the first 12 minutes of the half.
Wake Forest increased its lead to 16 points – 39-23 – with 6:24 remaining in the first period, but then the Bulldogs began to chip away at the lead. Baker jump-started a 21-10 run for the Bulldogs with a steal and a layup on the fast break.
Sophomore Luke Lawson contributed heavily to the run, scoring six straight points to pull the Dogs within seven points. A layup by Lavar Batts, Jr. at just under two minutes brought the Bulldogs to within two, but the Deacons closed on a 5-2 run to go into the locker room leading 49-44.
Batts led the way in the first frame with 13 points and two assists.
Baker took command in the early part of the second half, scoring eight of the Bulldogs 10 points in the first four minutes of the second half.
From there, it became the "Tajion Jones Show" as he scored eight consecutive Bulldog points around the under-12 media timeout. The Bulldogs narrowed the lead to two on a couple occasions, and Jones was finally able to tie it up at 72 apiece at the 9:47 mark with a nifty spin move to his left in the paint and a left-handed finish around the hoop.
From that point however, the Deacons took control of the game, drawing Bulldog fouls and connecting on their free throws to close it out.
NOTABLY
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs host Brevard in their home opener with a 6 p.m. tipoff, Saturday, at Kimmel Arena.
FROM THE MIND OF MORRELL
"I was really proud of our guys' effort. I thought Wake was really good, especially in the first five minutes of the game, and I thought they were really good in the last five minutes of the game. When you do that, you give yourself an opportunity to win. You have to give them credit for that. I thought in between that, our guys really fought. In the second half, we got in a lot of foul trouble, and because of that, were not able to be as aggressive as we'd like, especially in the half court. For us, we have to be able to try to find a way to win games when we can't do that. We didn't do that, Wake did a good job defending us, and we just didn't get much in the way of scoring there in the last few minutes.
I'm proud of our guys. I thought we tried to follow the plan. Tajion (Jones) gave us some great minutes. For us being on the road in the ACC, if you want to try to win a game like that, you have to be better down the stretch. We weren't quite good enough, but I was proud of our guys' effort." – Head Coach Mike Morrell
Redshirt sophomore Tajion Jones scored 22 points to lead the Bulldogs (1-2) in scoring, marking the second straight game Jones eclipsed 20 points. Sophomore DeVon Baker added 17 points to the cause, including 10 in the second half.
The Demon Deacons (2-1, 1-1 ACC) owned a decided advantage in field goal percentage, hitting 70.2 percent of their shots, compared to 47.2 percent from the Bulldogs.
Wake Forest came out firing from the tip off, hitting its first nine shots from the field to take a 17-9 lead into the first media timeout. Jones helped the Bulldogs stay in the thick of things, scoring 10 points in the first 12 minutes of the half.
Wake Forest increased its lead to 16 points – 39-23 – with 6:24 remaining in the first period, but then the Bulldogs began to chip away at the lead. Baker jump-started a 21-10 run for the Bulldogs with a steal and a layup on the fast break.
Sophomore Luke Lawson contributed heavily to the run, scoring six straight points to pull the Dogs within seven points. A layup by Lavar Batts, Jr. at just under two minutes brought the Bulldogs to within two, but the Deacons closed on a 5-2 run to go into the locker room leading 49-44.
Batts led the way in the first frame with 13 points and two assists.
Baker took command in the early part of the second half, scoring eight of the Bulldogs 10 points in the first four minutes of the second half.
From there, it became the "Tajion Jones Show" as he scored eight consecutive Bulldog points around the under-12 media timeout. The Bulldogs narrowed the lead to two on a couple occasions, and Jones was finally able to tie it up at 72 apiece at the 9:47 mark with a nifty spin move to his left in the paint and a left-handed finish around the hoop.
From that point however, the Deacons took control of the game, drawing Bulldog fouls and connecting on their free throws to close it out.
NOTABLY
- For the second-straight game, Tajion Jones reached the 20-point threshold finishing with 22 points. It marks the fifth 20-point game of his career.
- With 13 points, Lavar Batts, Jr. scored in double digits for the second time as a Bulldog and set his UNC Asheville career-high in points.
- Jax Levitch finished with five rebounds to lead the Bulldogs. He has led the team in rebounding in all three games so far this season.
- The Bulldogs connected on 23-of-30 free throw attempts. It is the first time they had attempted at least 30 free throws in a game since attempting 32 at Rhode Island, November 10, 2017.
- The Bulldogs committed 11 turnovers compared to Wake Forest's 17. The bulldogs have not committed more turnovers than their opponents in any game this season.
- Freshman Trent Stephney scored nine points off the bench for the second straight game, tying his young career high in points.
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs host Brevard in their home opener with a 6 p.m. tipoff, Saturday, at Kimmel Arena.
FROM THE MIND OF MORRELL
"I was really proud of our guys' effort. I thought Wake was really good, especially in the first five minutes of the game, and I thought they were really good in the last five minutes of the game. When you do that, you give yourself an opportunity to win. You have to give them credit for that. I thought in between that, our guys really fought. In the second half, we got in a lot of foul trouble, and because of that, were not able to be as aggressive as we'd like, especially in the half court. For us, we have to be able to try to find a way to win games when we can't do that. We didn't do that, Wake did a good job defending us, and we just didn't get much in the way of scoring there in the last few minutes.
I'm proud of our guys. I thought we tried to follow the plan. Tajion (Jones) gave us some great minutes. For us being on the road in the ACC, if you want to try to win a game like that, you have to be better down the stretch. We weren't quite good enough, but I was proud of our guys' effort." – Head Coach Mike Morrell
Team Stats
AVL
WAKE
FG%
.472
.702
3FG%
.316
.500
FT%
.767
.700
RB
20
35
TO
11
17
STL
7
3
Game Leaders
Pts
22
FGM
8
3FGM
4
FTM
2
Pts
17
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
9
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Players Mentioned
G
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