Men's basketball falls to Wilmington in opener

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The UNC Asheville Men's Basketball team tipped off its 2020-21 season in the Mako Medical Asheville Classic on Friday, being edged out by UNC Wilmington 76-68.

The Seahawks were able to overcome a 10-point deficit in the second half to grab their first win. Despite missing starters DeVon Baker and Coty Jude, five Bulldogs scored in double figures including sophomore guard Trent Stephney who led the way with a career-high 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor. Both Stephney and Lavar Batts, Jr. dished out five assists, while the team combined for eight blocks overall. The Seahawks, who move to 1-1 on the season, were led by Jaylen Sims' 24 points, getting 19 from Jake Boggs.

"I think we can take a lot from that," UNC Asheville Head Coach Mike Morrell said of his team's depth. "We showed some first-game jitters, but I thought UNC Wilmington did a great job down the stretch. But I take a lot from our effort. It's going to help the depth of our team when we need it most, which is in Big South play."

LJ Thorpe, who totaled 10 points on the night, got the Bulldogs on the board early, and graduate-transfer Evan Clayborne, who got his first start in blue and white, scored back-to-back buckets to force an early timeout by the Seahawks.

"He brings an added element of size and athleticism, defense around the rim," Morrell said of Clayborne. "It hurt us when we had to sit him for foul trouble because he had some juice to him, but I thought our guys played well overall."

UNC Wilmington took a slight lead, but Jamon Battle came alive with a monster dunk and a bucket in the lane to pull UNC Asheville to within one. Moments later, Luke Lawson swatted a shot and hit a transition three to give the Bulldogs their first lead of the contest (24-22). Lawson connected on another trey to make the score 31-28 with three minutes to play, before Battle registered his second slam of the night to give the Bulldogs a 35-31 lead at the half.

Much like the first half, Thorpe was locked in to start the second, swatting a shot, grabbing a steal and sinking a pair of buckets to make the score 45-38. BJ Marable would get in on the action, converting a three-point play as UNC Asheville pushed its lead to eight with just over 13 minutes to play.

The Seahawks would not go away, climbing back to gain their first lead of the second half with 3:36 to play (65-63) after buckets from Sims and Boggs. Stephney hit a jumper and got to the line as the Bulldogs looked to cut into the deficit, but ran out of time.

UNC Asheville has a quick turnaround, facing Western Carolina (1-1) on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. in the Mako Medical Asheville Classic finale. The game can be viewed locally on WSPA, as well as ESPN+.

"Their game and our game was very similar," said Morrell of Western Carolina's Friday game against Troy. "We both jumped out to leads. Mark (Prosser) does a great job. They're a good team. They're tough and they'll present a host of challenges for us. But I just keep telling our guys, we are going to take every single minute of this game, take every minute tomorrow and be thankful for the opportunity to play, and just get better."

Quick Hits

Trent Stephney scores career-high 14 points, adds five assists
Five players scored in double figures for the first time since February 2, 2020 (at Radford)
Evan Clayborne (N.C. Central) scored 12 points on 6-for-8 shooting in his Bulldog debut

Men's basketball falls to Wilmington in opener

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Team Stats

Trent Stephney

Tajion Jones

Evan Clayborne

Jamon Battle

Players Mentioned

DeVon Baker

Jamon Battle

Lavar Batts, Jr.

Evan Clayborne

Coty Jude

Luke Lawson

BJ Marable

Trent Stephney

LJ Thorpe

Players Mentioned

DeVon Baker

Jamon Battle

Lavar Batts, Jr.

Evan Clayborne

Coty Jude

Luke Lawson

BJ Marable

Trent Stephney

LJ Thorpe

University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics