University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
4-3,0-0Big South
The Citadel
3-3,0-0SoCon
Men’s basketball grinds out 65-58 win over The Citadel Wednesday
12.01.2021 | Men's Basketball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Asheville men's basketball team hosted the high-scoring Bulldogs of The Citadel on Wednesday night, grinding out a 65-58 win at Kimmel Arena.
"It wasn't always pretty, but we had a plan and I thought the guys really came in and executed it," said UNC Asheville head coach Mike Morrell. "Number one 3-point shooting team in the country, we didn't want to give them any clean looks or limit those as much as we possibly can. Just wanted to make things as tough as we could and I thought those guys did a good job."
Asheville held The Citadel, who leads the country in 3-pointers per game (13.3), to just 2-of-24 shooting from behind the arc, snagging a season-high 47 rebounds in the process. Eight different players scored for Asheville, led by LJ Thorpe who totaled 15 of his 16 points in the last 20 minutes.
"It was good to see us be plus 11 in the rebound margin," Morrell said. "That's a team (The Citadel) that's got a double-digit ACC-road win and there's nobody I respect more than Duggar Baucom. Just a really, really good win for us."
What's Next
The win improves UNC Asheville's record to 4-3, dropping The Citadel to 4-3 as well. The Bulldogs return to action Saturday afternoon, hosting North Carolina Central for a 2:00 p.m. tip.
The Game at a Glance
- Asheville holds The Citadel to two 3-pointers, season-low 58 points
- Thorpe scores 15 of 16 points in second half
- Bulldogs grab season-high 47 rebounds
- Asheville gets 38 points in the paint including six from Silas Mason
How it Happened
Battle opened up the game with a corner three and built a five-point lead when Luke Lawson connected from deep. Around the midway point of the half, Thorpe outlet a pass to Tajion Jones who slammed it home to make the score 16-13. With time winding down in the first, Mason set up Jones for a bucket and scored a putback to give Asheville a 31-24 advantage at the break.
"I thought at some point tonight, we needed something from just about everyone," Morrell said. "If I had a game ball I'd give it to Silas Mason. Everybody that went in the game at some point gave us some much-needed help."
