University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
7-6,6-2Big South
Charleston Southern
1-11,0-8Big South
Asheville, Thorpe close out Charleston Southern for 100th win in Kimmel
01.15.2021 | Men's Basketball
Bulldogs top Buccaneers 83-75 for series sweep
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – With the game tied 69-69, LJ Thorpe scored 12 points in the final five and a half minutes of play to lift the UNC Asheville men's basketball team to its 100th win in program history in Kimmel Arena, topping Charleston Southern 83-75 on Friday afternoon.
Asheville shot 53.4 percent from the field, swatted six shots and grabbed 10 steals while holding the Buccaneers to just 23.8 percent shooting from 3-point range. Tajion Jones was the high-scorer for the Bulldogs, totaling 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the floor. Thorpe, who totaled 18 points, grabbed six rebounds and handed out three assists, while Trent Stephney added 15 points in a 6-for-7 effort from the free throw stripe.
Asheville now sits at 7-6 on the season, and moves to an impressive 6-2 in Big South play. The last time a Bulldog team began conference play 6-2 was in 2015-16 when it finished the regular season with a 14-6 Big South record before claiming the conference championship. Charleston Southern drops to 1-11 and 0-8 in conference play.
"I hope it says we're getting better," UNC Asheville head coach Mike Morrell said of his team's ability to grind out the win. "I thought we played pretty well in the first half, but I thought Charleston Southern did too. You have to be able to win a variety of ways because if you can only win one way you aren't going to win many games."
What's Next
Returns to the road on Tuesday when it opens up a back-to-back at Gardner-Webb. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and will tip off at 7:00 p.m.
Today's Takeaways
- 6-2 record in Big South play is best start since 2015-16
- Fifth time this season Tajion Jones has scored 20-plus points
- Sixth time LJ Thorpe has totaled 15 or more points
- Third consecutive game in which five Bulldogs score 10-plus points
How it Happened
Like Thursday, Asheville got off to a fast start, scoring seven of the first nine points. The Buccaneers rallied, however, taking their first lead with 13 minutes to play in the half. Lavar Batts, Jr., who had five assists in the first 20 minutes, kept the Bulldogs in the game, feeding Evan Clayborne and Jones and scoring a pair of buckets in the paint to make the score 26-28 in favor of Charleston Southern.
After the Buccaneers took a six-point advantage, Asheville knocked down free throws and a steal and score from Batts gave the Bulldogs a 40-39 lead with 31 seconds to play in the first, but Sean Prince would convert a three-point play to give Charleston Southern a two-point advantage at the break.
"I thought Lavar was really good in the first half," Morrell said. "He battled some foul trouble, showed some maturity. Yesterday he didn't score a point but I thought he controlled the game whenever he was in there. Five assists in a half is a lot."
The Bulldogs came out of the gates strong in the second, scoring 10 unanswered to take a 50-42 lead. Like the first, Charleston Southern would respond, taking a one-point lead at the 15-minute mark of the second. Jones and Jamon Battle answered in the paint, and a Stephney 3-pointer put Asheville back in front by six.
"That's just what he does," said Morrell of Stephney. "He's an attacking, aggressive player. When he's not, he's not himself so he has to be that way. You can kind of see him growing by the day, by the game. He was as good as anyone the last two days."
Despite the Buccaneers getting into the double bonus with eight minutes remaining, Stephney and Asheville continued to attack and six straight points from Thorpe made the score 76-69 in favor of the Bulldogs. With Charleston Southern knocking on the door (78-75), Morrell called a timeout to set up a play for Thorpe, who put the final nail in the coffin, powering his way through contact to put Asheville in front 81-75.
"We drew the out of bounds play up for him and said just go make a play, and that's what he did," Morrell said of Thorpe. "He really enjoys having the ball in his hands, especially at the end of the game, but I thought he did better defensively too."
