University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Saturday, February 15
Asheville, NC
4:30 p.m.
UNC Asheville
12-13,6-8Big So
79
vs
75
Charleston Southern
13-14,7-8Big So
1
2
F
Charleston So.
38
37
75
UNC Asheville
40
39
79
Photo by: Adrian Etheridge
Bulldogs Win Thriller Against Charleston Southern on Senior Day
02.15.2020 | Men's Basketball
ASHEVILLE – UNC Asheville's men's basketball team picked up a critical victory in the Big South Conference standings, defeating Charleston Southern, 79-75, Saturday inside Kimmel Arena.
With the victory, the Bulldogs (12-13, 7-8 Big South) earned a season sweep against the Buccaneers, while tripling their win total from a season ago.
Saturday's contest began as forward Jeremy Peck was honored for Senior Day. The big man had a big game off the bench, recording season-highs with nine points and six rebounds. He finished just one point shy of his career-high, set last season at Stetson.
DeVon Baker finished as the game's leading scorer with 27 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the floor and 10-of-12 shooting from the free throw line. Joining Baker in double-figures were Coty Jude with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting and LJ Thorpe with 10 points and six rebounds.
Lavar Batts, Jr. finished with a career-best seven assists in the game, and did Yeoman's work on the defensive end against the Buccaneers' (13-14, 7-8 Big South) Phlandrous Fleming Jr., holding their leading scorer to 10 points – eight points under his season average.
Neither team created much separation in the first half, as the largest lead for either side was a four-point advantage the Bucs on three different occasions. The Bulldogs trailed by three, 38-35, with less than three minutes to go in the first half, but held the Bucs scoreless the final 2:50 and Baker scored the final five points to give the Bulldogs a 40-38 advantage going into the locker room.
Baker led the way with 12 points in the first half, while Thorpe had eight and Tajion Jones had seven.
The Bucs got off to a strong start in the second half, pushing the two-point deficit to a five-point lead, 49-44, with 15:50 remaining in the game, prompting a timeout from head coach Mike Morrell.
It proved to be exactly what the team needed, as it proceeded to go on a 13-0 run over the next four minutes of game action. Jude started the run with a 3-pointer on an assist from Batts. Baker scored seven of the points on the run, including three from the free-throw line after being fouled on a jumper from distance.
Asheville pushed the lead up to 10 on several occasions, including 70-60 with 6:28 remaining, but the gritty Bucs fought back, eventually cutting the lead to 78-75 with 1:32 remaining on a converted and-one by Fleming.
The Bulldogs forced missed shots from three on the Bucs' next two possessions, and Baker made it a two-possession game with less than 20 seconds remaining after hitting the front end of a one-and-one to give the Dogs the final margin of victory.
Â
NOTABLY
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs will head to Radford for the Big South's Wildcard Game, set to air on ESPNU 9 p.m., Thursday, February 20.
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FROM THE MIND OF MORRELL
"It was another really good crowd today. I'm very thankful for our fans and students that came out. We have an ultimate Frisbee team that comes here, and when they come out, it's always loud. Shout out to them: those guys are good. I sure thank them for coming tonight.
I'm so happy for Jeremy Peck, and that was one of his better games here in an Asheville uniform. He had his family here: we moved up his Senior Day so his family could watch him play two games instead of one. He's from Houston, so it's not extremely easy for them to get here. We talked a lot about honoring him and honoring his day. The guys did that and played hard. It wasn't perfect, but another big free throw by DeVon (Baker) down the stretch to get the game to two possessions instead of one.
"I thought Lavar (Batts) did a tremendous job on (Phlandrous) Fleming all day. Fleming is one of the most productive players in the country across the board. Any time he's one the floor, you're worried because of how good of a player he is, but I thought Lavar did a good job on him. I'm just proud of our guys overall. DeVon had a great day. It was just a good team win." – Head Coach Mike Morrell
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With the victory, the Bulldogs (12-13, 7-8 Big South) earned a season sweep against the Buccaneers, while tripling their win total from a season ago.
Saturday's contest began as forward Jeremy Peck was honored for Senior Day. The big man had a big game off the bench, recording season-highs with nine points and six rebounds. He finished just one point shy of his career-high, set last season at Stetson.
DeVon Baker finished as the game's leading scorer with 27 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the floor and 10-of-12 shooting from the free throw line. Joining Baker in double-figures were Coty Jude with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting and LJ Thorpe with 10 points and six rebounds.
Lavar Batts, Jr. finished with a career-best seven assists in the game, and did Yeoman's work on the defensive end against the Buccaneers' (13-14, 7-8 Big South) Phlandrous Fleming Jr., holding their leading scorer to 10 points – eight points under his season average.
Neither team created much separation in the first half, as the largest lead for either side was a four-point advantage the Bucs on three different occasions. The Bulldogs trailed by three, 38-35, with less than three minutes to go in the first half, but held the Bucs scoreless the final 2:50 and Baker scored the final five points to give the Bulldogs a 40-38 advantage going into the locker room.
Baker led the way with 12 points in the first half, while Thorpe had eight and Tajion Jones had seven.
The Bucs got off to a strong start in the second half, pushing the two-point deficit to a five-point lead, 49-44, with 15:50 remaining in the game, prompting a timeout from head coach Mike Morrell.
It proved to be exactly what the team needed, as it proceeded to go on a 13-0 run over the next four minutes of game action. Jude started the run with a 3-pointer on an assist from Batts. Baker scored seven of the points on the run, including three from the free-throw line after being fouled on a jumper from distance.
Asheville pushed the lead up to 10 on several occasions, including 70-60 with 6:28 remaining, but the gritty Bucs fought back, eventually cutting the lead to 78-75 with 1:32 remaining on a converted and-one by Fleming.
The Bulldogs forced missed shots from three on the Bucs' next two possessions, and Baker made it a two-possession game with less than 20 seconds remaining after hitting the front end of a one-and-one to give the Dogs the final margin of victory.
Â
NOTABLY
- DeVon Baker led all scorers with 27 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the floor and 10-of-12 from the free throw line. It is the fifth 20-point performance of the season for Baker and the 14th of his career.
- The 10 made free throws tied Baker's career-high, set last season at USC Upstate, January 30, 2019. The 12 free throw attempts also tied a career-best, set earlier this season at Wake Forest, November 13, 2019.
- Jeremy Peck finished with season highs in points (9) and rebounds (6) on Senior Day. The nine points is the second-highest scoring output of his career, finishing just shy of the 10 he scored at Stetson last season, December 18, 2018.
- Lavar Batts, Jr. finished with a career-high seven assists, surpassing his previous high of six he set against High Point, January 16. He joins LJ Thorpe and Trent Stephney as Bulldogs with seven or more assists in a game this season.
- The Bulldogs hit 51.9 percent of their shots from the floor, the sixth time this season they have shot 50 percent or better in a game. They are 6-0 in those games, including each of their past four victories.
- The Bulldogs forced the Buccaneers into 12 turnovers while turning it over just 11 times themselves. It is the 20th time in 25 games the Bulldogs have committed fewer turnovers than their opponent.
- The Bulldogs outrebounded the Buccaneers, 35-31. It is the ninth time this season they have outrebounded their opponent and are now 7-2 in those games.
- The Bulldogs led in points in the paint 42-to-26 and fast-break points 21-to-10.
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs will head to Radford for the Big South's Wildcard Game, set to air on ESPNU 9 p.m., Thursday, February 20.
Â
FROM THE MIND OF MORRELL
"It was another really good crowd today. I'm very thankful for our fans and students that came out. We have an ultimate Frisbee team that comes here, and when they come out, it's always loud. Shout out to them: those guys are good. I sure thank them for coming tonight.
I'm so happy for Jeremy Peck, and that was one of his better games here in an Asheville uniform. He had his family here: we moved up his Senior Day so his family could watch him play two games instead of one. He's from Houston, so it's not extremely easy for them to get here. We talked a lot about honoring him and honoring his day. The guys did that and played hard. It wasn't perfect, but another big free throw by DeVon (Baker) down the stretch to get the game to two possessions instead of one.
"I thought Lavar (Batts) did a tremendous job on (Phlandrous) Fleming all day. Fleming is one of the most productive players in the country across the board. Any time he's one the floor, you're worried because of how good of a player he is, but I thought Lavar did a good job on him. I'm just proud of our guys overall. DeVon had a great day. It was just a good team win." – Head Coach Mike Morrell
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Team Stats
CHASOU
AVL
FG%
.467
.519
3FG%
.333
.400
FT%
.714
.731
RB
31
35
TO
12
11
STL
6
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
27
FGM
8
3FGM
1
FTM
10
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G
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