University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
10-10,9-6Big South
Longwood
12-15,11-10Big South
Men’s basketball returns after layoff, falls in Big South Quarterfinals
03.01.2021 | Men's Basketball
Longwood tops Asheville 77-61
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Having not played a game in 30 days, the UNC Asheville men's basketball team entered Monday night's 2021 Hercules Tires Big South Championship Quarterfinal matchup against Longwood without the services of its head coach and starting center, ultimately falling to the Lancers by a score of 77-61 at Kimmel Arena.
"I stayed involved the best way I could, Zoom was really all I could do," said third-year head coach Mike Morrell. "This is definitely not why you get into coaching. You get into coaching so you can help your players, be around your players, so it has just been a tough year for that. But it's not singular to us, there's been a lot of people who've been through a lot tougher things so I'm just grateful and proud of our guys."
The Bulldogs, also missed the services of big man Evan Clayborne, will fall to 10-10 overall on the COVID-shortened season. Longwood improves to 12-15 overall, advancing to Thursday night's Big South semifinal where they will meet No. 1 seed Winthrop. Assistant Coach Neil Dixon guided the Bulldogs against the Lancers, as Monday night was the first athletic even on UNC Asheville's campus in which student-athlete family members were permitted to attend following Governor Cooper's limiting of restrictions announcement last week.
All-Big South Second Team honoree Tajion Jones did what he did for much of the 2020-21 season, totaling a team-high 14 points while tying a career-high with nine rebounds for Asheville. Fellow junior and All-Big South Academic member Coty Jude matched his third-highest scoring output of the season with 12 points, while Jamon Battle had 13 and DeVon Baker added 11 points. Without Clayborne down low, the Bulldogs were outrebounded 36-22 and outscored in the paint 54-38. Despite going just 4-for-21 from 3-point range, the Bulldogs were an extremely efficient 51.0 percent from the floor, and forced 15 turnovers on the defensive end.
How it Happened
Longwood scored the first five points of the game before Thorpe got the Bulldogs on the board with a layup. Jude, Marable and Battle all found their way to the rim, but the Lancers would jump out to a 21-11 advantage. Asheville closed the gap with a 6-0 run, but Longwood came right back with five unanswered of their own.
Baker hit a pull-up jumper in transition and a pair of 3-pointers from Jude and Jones cut the deficit to eight, but Longwood scored once more before the break to hold a 43-33 lead at half.
Jude opened up the second with his second 3-pointer of the game, but Longwood was able to keep the Bulldogs at bay. As the two sides approached the midway point of the second half, the Lancers sent home three-straight slams to take a 66-46 lead and all the momentum.
With eight minutes to play, Jones and Asheville attempted to mount a rally, as the junior knocked down a 3-pointer, scored inside and Baker converted a three-point play, but Longwood maintained a safe distance, ultimately taking the game 77-61.
A Season Unlike Any Other
While the 2020-21 college basketball season is still ongoing, it has been unique to say the least for the Bulldogs, beginning with a condensed schedule and before resuming Monday after a 30-day layoff and a Big South Tournament appearance without its head coach. In four months, Asheville had seven total games canceled due to COVID protocols throughout college basketball.
"We did a great job for the majority of the year just trying to control the things we could control, until we couldn't anymore when it came to Covid," Morrell said. "In the league, we finished the regular season at 9-5 which is a really good year. I wish we could have played more games, but we had a lot of highlights. Our guys sacrificed a lot to be able to play so I'm proud of them for that."
The season has also had many high points, including a January 29 victory at Winthrop which snapped a 21-game win streak by the Eagles and gave Asheville its first victory in Rock Hill since 2011. Additionally, three Bulldogs earned all-conference recognition, in the aforementioned Jones (Second Team), Jude (All-Academic) and LJ Thorpe (Honorable Mention).
"We've never had to deal with something like this," Morrell said of this past season. "In terms of having to test multiple times a week, not having much of a social life, isolating and things like that. It's just a year that you try to do your best knowing that you're not going to be perfect. I just hope we get to see a lot of people in blue soon."
