University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Wednesday, December 11
Orangeburg, SC
7 p.m.
UNC Asheville
4-4
85
at
90
South Carolina State
4-5
1
2
OT 1
F
UNC Asheville
35
43
7
85
S.C. State
39
39
12
90
Batts’ 40 Points Not Enough as UNC Asheville Falls in Overtime
12.11.2019 | Men's Basketball
ORANGEBURG, S.C. – Despite a 40-point performance from Lavar Batts, Jr., UNC Asheville's men's basketball team fell to South Carolina State in overtime, 90-85, Wednesday night at SHM Memorial Center.
Batts became the first Bulldog to eclipse 40 points in a game since Andrew Rowsey scored 41 against Radford, February 13, 2014. Rowsey accomplished the feat shooting 50 percent from the field, but Batts hit 14-of-17 from the floor, including 3-of-5 from three, while sinking all nine of his free throw attempts.
The 40-point effort also finished just shy of the program record of 44 set by Mickey Gibson against Washington & Lee in the 1969-70 season.
Also scoring double figures in the game were LJ Thorpe and Tajion Jones with 12 apiece, while Coty Jude added 11 points.
South Carolina State took a 39-35 lead into the locker room at halftime, though Asheville received a Herculean effort from Batts in the first frame to remain right in the game. The redshirt sophomore notched his career high in scoring in the first half alone, dropping 19 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field and a 6-of-6 effort from the free throw line.
Batts had an explosive shift during the first and second media timeouts, scoring nine points to help the Bulldogs take the lead, exhibiting relentless energy on defense while pushing the pace on offense. At the 6:20 mark, he stole the ball away after a deflection by Trent Stephney and charged forward for a left-handed layup, becoming the first player in double-digits in the game.
South Carolina State took the lead, 26-25, on a dunk with 4:23 remaining in the first half and would expand it to four on multiple occasions down the stretch, but Asheville would hang tight with the scoring effort of Batts.
The home team would build its lead to 14 with 8:14 remaining in the game, 67-53, but a pair of free throws from Batts and a steal and layup from Jones with seven minutes remaining brought the lead back to 10. Thorpe would cut the lead to single digits moments later with a floater.
Two layups by Baker and another 3-pointer from Batts helped cut the lead to 70-66. After a South Carolina State jumper, Jude hit his third 3-pointer of the game to cut the lead to three. With South Carolina State leading by five, an offensive rebound and putback by Jones narrowed the deficit back to three with 1:50 remaining in the game, 76-73.
A fadeaway jumper by Thorpe with just less than minute in the game made it a one-point game, 76-75. After recording a stop on the defensive end, Asheville took a timeout. Out of the stoppage, Batts swung a pass to his right to a wide-open Jones, who drilled a 3-pointer to go ahead by two points, but the home team would answer with a bucket at the other end to send the game to overtime.
Holding an 84-82 lead with just over a minute remaining in the extra period, South Carolina State hit a pull up jumper and followed with two free throws to go up, 88-82. On the home team's following possession, Jones stole the ball away and delivered a perfect pass to Batts, who completed the layup while being fouled. He sunk his free throw to narrow the lead to 88-85.
South Carolina State hit one-of-two free throws, but Jude's 3-point attempt missed and the home team split another pair of free throws for the final margin.
NOTABLY
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs return home for the first of three straight games at Kimmel Arena before the holiday break when they host UT Martin, 2 p.m., Saturday.
FROM THE MIND OF MORRELL
"It was a great job by our guys to get back in the game. It was another game where we needed one stop and didn't get it. When we got into overtime, there were too many easy baskets for (South Carolina State) and too many turnovers on our end and baskets for them on the other. We have to be better in the last two or three minutes of the game getting stops and not trading baskets with them. We finally got our style of play going late that got us back in the game. We took the lead up two and needed a stop but couldn't get it. It's disappointing. I'm really proud of their effort, but it's something where we didn't play well in the first half, and we shouldn't have put ourselves in the position to have to bounce back. I thought South Carolina State played well: you have to give them credit for making some tough shots." – Head Coach Mike Morrell
Batts became the first Bulldog to eclipse 40 points in a game since Andrew Rowsey scored 41 against Radford, February 13, 2014. Rowsey accomplished the feat shooting 50 percent from the field, but Batts hit 14-of-17 from the floor, including 3-of-5 from three, while sinking all nine of his free throw attempts.
The 40-point effort also finished just shy of the program record of 44 set by Mickey Gibson against Washington & Lee in the 1969-70 season.
Also scoring double figures in the game were LJ Thorpe and Tajion Jones with 12 apiece, while Coty Jude added 11 points.
South Carolina State took a 39-35 lead into the locker room at halftime, though Asheville received a Herculean effort from Batts in the first frame to remain right in the game. The redshirt sophomore notched his career high in scoring in the first half alone, dropping 19 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field and a 6-of-6 effort from the free throw line.
Batts had an explosive shift during the first and second media timeouts, scoring nine points to help the Bulldogs take the lead, exhibiting relentless energy on defense while pushing the pace on offense. At the 6:20 mark, he stole the ball away after a deflection by Trent Stephney and charged forward for a left-handed layup, becoming the first player in double-digits in the game.
South Carolina State took the lead, 26-25, on a dunk with 4:23 remaining in the first half and would expand it to four on multiple occasions down the stretch, but Asheville would hang tight with the scoring effort of Batts.
The home team would build its lead to 14 with 8:14 remaining in the game, 67-53, but a pair of free throws from Batts and a steal and layup from Jones with seven minutes remaining brought the lead back to 10. Thorpe would cut the lead to single digits moments later with a floater.
Two layups by Baker and another 3-pointer from Batts helped cut the lead to 70-66. After a South Carolina State jumper, Jude hit his third 3-pointer of the game to cut the lead to three. With South Carolina State leading by five, an offensive rebound and putback by Jones narrowed the deficit back to three with 1:50 remaining in the game, 76-73.
A fadeaway jumper by Thorpe with just less than minute in the game made it a one-point game, 76-75. After recording a stop on the defensive end, Asheville took a timeout. Out of the stoppage, Batts swung a pass to his right to a wide-open Jones, who drilled a 3-pointer to go ahead by two points, but the home team would answer with a bucket at the other end to send the game to overtime.
Holding an 84-82 lead with just over a minute remaining in the extra period, South Carolina State hit a pull up jumper and followed with two free throws to go up, 88-82. On the home team's following possession, Jones stole the ball away and delivered a perfect pass to Batts, who completed the layup while being fouled. He sunk his free throw to narrow the lead to 88-85.
South Carolina State hit one-of-two free throws, but Jude's 3-point attempt missed and the home team split another pair of free throws for the final margin.
NOTABLY
- Lavar Batts, Jr. scored a career high 40 points, easily surpassing his previous high of 17 set in the team's most recent game against Western Carolina, last Saturday. He made 14-of-17 from the field, including 3-of-5 from three, and 9-of-9 from the free throw line.
- He reached the career milestone with 19 points in the first half, connecting on 6-of-7 shots and 6-of-6 free throws.
- He is the first Bulldog to reach 40 points in a game since Andrew Rowsey scored 41 in a game against Radofrd, February 13, 2014.
- Batts is the only current player on the roster to eclipse 40 points in a game and joins Tajion Jones and DeVon Baker as the only players on the roster to score 30 or more in a game in their career.
- Batts became the fourth player to eclipse the 20-point mark this season, joining Jones, Baker and LJ Thorpe.
- The Bulldogs forced South Carolina State into 20 turnovers while turning it over 14 times themselves, marking four-straight games they have forced their opponent into at least 20 turnovers.
- The Bulldogs have still not turned the ball over more than their opponent in any game this season.
- It was the first overtime game for Asheville since falling, 82-81, to Gardner-Webb, February 2, 2019.
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs return home for the first of three straight games at Kimmel Arena before the holiday break when they host UT Martin, 2 p.m., Saturday.
FROM THE MIND OF MORRELL
"It was a great job by our guys to get back in the game. It was another game where we needed one stop and didn't get it. When we got into overtime, there were too many easy baskets for (South Carolina State) and too many turnovers on our end and baskets for them on the other. We have to be better in the last two or three minutes of the game getting stops and not trading baskets with them. We finally got our style of play going late that got us back in the game. We took the lead up two and needed a stop but couldn't get it. It's disappointing. I'm really proud of their effort, but it's something where we didn't play well in the first half, and we shouldn't have put ourselves in the position to have to bounce back. I thought South Carolina State played well: you have to give them credit for making some tough shots." – Head Coach Mike Morrell
Team Stats
AVL
SCSUM
FG%
.456
.518
3FG%
.241
.143
FT%
.615
.816
RB
32
37
TO
14
20
STL
6
1
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
40
FGM
14
3FGM
3
FTM
9
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
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