University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Saturday, February 1
Rock Hill, SC
2 p.m.
UNC Asheville
9-12, 3-7BSC
71
at
104
Winthrop
16-7, 10-9BSC
1
2
F
UNC Asheville
36
35
71
Winthrop
52
52
104
Photo by: Mark Godin
Bulldogs Fall on the Road to League-Leading Winthrop
02.01.2020 | Men's Basketball
ROCK HILL, S.C. – UNC Asheville's men's basketball team faced a tough challenge against Big South Conference leader Winthrop, falling on the road, 104-71, Saturday afternoon inside Winthrop Coliseum.
Redshirt sophomore LJ Thorpe led all scorers in the game with 21 points – his fourth 20-point performance of the season. He only hit four field goals, but aggressively drove to the basket throughout the game to earn 14 free throw attempts, sinking 11.
Redshirt sophomore Lavar Batts, Jr. scored 19 points for the Bulldogs (9-12, 3-7 Big South) on 7-of-14 shooting and sophomore DeVon Baker added 18 points on 8-of-15 from the field to round out Bulldog scorers in double-digit scoring.
Winthrop (16-7, 10-0) entered the game having won all of its conference games and six straight games at home. The Eagles jumped out to a quick lead, going ahead by as many as 10, 14-4, at the 14:28 mark, but the Bulldogs would battle back over the next five minutes of game action.
After a pair of Winthrop free throws with 11:21 remaining in the half made the score 22-13, the Bulldogs scored seven of the next nine points in the game to reduce the deficit to four. Batts started the run with a made two-pointer, and Baker followed with a made jumper of his own. Baker would hit one free throw and then sink another bucket to narrow the gap to 24-20 with 9:06 remaining.
Winthrop would close out the half strong, though, and take a 52-36 lead into the locker room. Baker led all scorers in the first half with 14 on 6-of-9 shooting, while Batts added 10 points in the frame and Thorpe contributed eight.
Thorpe led the way in scoring in the second half with 13 points, including 8-of-10 from the free throw line. Batts scored nine points in the second frame.
NOTABLY
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs will return to Kimmel Arena for a 6 p.m. contest, Thursday, February 6 in a rematch against USC Upstate.
FROM THE MIND OF MORRELL
"You have to give (Winthrop) tons of credit: they hit 13 threes today – they're averaging right under 10. They shot it really well. I thought we defended some of it pretty dang good. They're extremely deep. They're the best team we've played, in my opinion, based on what we saw today, so give Winthrop a lot of credit. We have to be better and make the other team miss more. We're kind of in a valley we need to dig ourselves out of, but I thought our guys fought today."
– Head Coach Mike Morrell
Redshirt sophomore LJ Thorpe led all scorers in the game with 21 points – his fourth 20-point performance of the season. He only hit four field goals, but aggressively drove to the basket throughout the game to earn 14 free throw attempts, sinking 11.
Redshirt sophomore Lavar Batts, Jr. scored 19 points for the Bulldogs (9-12, 3-7 Big South) on 7-of-14 shooting and sophomore DeVon Baker added 18 points on 8-of-15 from the field to round out Bulldog scorers in double-digit scoring.
Winthrop (16-7, 10-0) entered the game having won all of its conference games and six straight games at home. The Eagles jumped out to a quick lead, going ahead by as many as 10, 14-4, at the 14:28 mark, but the Bulldogs would battle back over the next five minutes of game action.
After a pair of Winthrop free throws with 11:21 remaining in the half made the score 22-13, the Bulldogs scored seven of the next nine points in the game to reduce the deficit to four. Batts started the run with a made two-pointer, and Baker followed with a made jumper of his own. Baker would hit one free throw and then sink another bucket to narrow the gap to 24-20 with 9:06 remaining.
Winthrop would close out the half strong, though, and take a 52-36 lead into the locker room. Baker led all scorers in the first half with 14 on 6-of-9 shooting, while Batts added 10 points in the frame and Thorpe contributed eight.
Thorpe led the way in scoring in the second half with 13 points, including 8-of-10 from the free throw line. Batts scored nine points in the second frame.
NOTABLY
- LJ Thorpe led all scorers in the game with 21 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field – including 2-of-3 from three – and 11-of-14 from the free throw stripe. It is his fourth 20-point effort of the season and third in the past six games.
- The 11 made free throws and 14 free throw attempts both represent career-highs for Thorpe, surpassing the 8-of-10 effort he had against Hampton earlier this season, January 18.
- Lavar Batts, Jr. scored 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field – representing his second-highest point total of the season.
- Batts finished with three assists, marking the ninth time this season he has led the Bulldogs in assists.
- DeVon Baker added 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the floor. He and Thorpe lead the team with 17 double-digit scoring efforts this season.
- Freshman Jamon Battle led the team with a career-high three steals on the afternoon. He had two total steals on the season entering the contest.
- Battle also set a career-high with five rebounds, including a career-high-tying three offensive boards.
- Jeremy Peck tied his season-high with four points, tying his effort against Longwood, January 20.
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs will return to Kimmel Arena for a 6 p.m. contest, Thursday, February 6 in a rematch against USC Upstate.
FROM THE MIND OF MORRELL
"You have to give (Winthrop) tons of credit: they hit 13 threes today – they're averaging right under 10. They shot it really well. I thought we defended some of it pretty dang good. They're extremely deep. They're the best team we've played, in my opinion, based on what we saw today, so give Winthrop a lot of credit. We have to be better and make the other team miss more. We're kind of in a valley we need to dig ourselves out of, but I thought our guys fought today."
– Head Coach Mike Morrell
Team Stats
AVL
WINTHROP
FG%
.426
.593
3FG%
.313
.565
FT%
.625
.618
RB
27
43
TO
15
12
STL
5
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
18
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
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