University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Thursday, January 27
Asheville, N.C.
7:00 PM
UNC Asheville
11-9,3-4Big South
55
vs
61
Gardner-Webb
10-10,4-3Big South
1
2
F
Gardner-Webb
37
24
61
UNC Asheville
23
32
55
Men’s basketball rallies, drops contest to Gardner-Webb 61-55
01.27.2022 | Men's Basketball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – UNC Asheville Men's Basketball hosted its first nationally-televised game since 2018 on Thursday night, outscoring Gardner-Webb by eight in the second half before ultimately falling 61-55 at Kimmel Arena.
Trailing by 19 with just over 13 minutes to play, Asheville stormed back and cut the deficit to three with under a minute to play, but ran out of gas as the Runnin' Bulldogs pulled out the six-point victory. The Bulldogs drop to 11-9 (3-4 Big South) and visit Presbyterian Saturday, while Gardner-Webb moves to 10-10 and 4-3 in Big South play.
"I thought Gardner-Webb had a lot to do with it, we just didn't have a great response in the first half," UNC Asheville head coach Mike Morrell said. "You dig yourself a hole against a team that was trying to slow us down and it's hard to come back from that. Proud of our guys for fighting back in the second half, but that's not really a consolation trophy."
Standout Stats
The teams matched each other bucket-for-bucket to open the first, with Gardner-Webb holding a 12-11 at the midpoint of the first. The Runnin' Bulldogs would score 18 of the next 22 points to double up Asheville 30-15 with 5:30 remaining. Asheville got buckets from Jones and Pember, but went into the break trailing 37-23.
Gardner-Webb extended its lead to 19 at the 14-minute mark when Thorpe scored four straight and Stephney knocked down a three to make the lead 12 but the Runnin' Bulldogs would hold that advantage as the clock ticked under 10. A pair of effort plays led to 3-pointers from Jones and Jude, and Asheville's aggressiveness allowed them to pull within three points at the free-throw line (56-53), but could not close the gap anymore as Gardner-Webb took the game.
More from Morrell
On not being able to overcome the deficit:
"We had 17 turnovers. We held them to under 40 percent from the field. We just didn't get enough shots. I thought Williams for them played terrific in the second."
On the crowd at Kimmel Arena:
"It was awesome. It was the best atmosphere that we've had at least in a couple of years. I told the guys that we want to reward them for coming out and like the product that they see. We've just not done a good enough job of protecting home court and I have to help our guys figure it out. We've always played well here and losing three in a row at home is just not acceptable."
Trailing by 19 with just over 13 minutes to play, Asheville stormed back and cut the deficit to three with under a minute to play, but ran out of gas as the Runnin' Bulldogs pulled out the six-point victory. The Bulldogs drop to 11-9 (3-4 Big South) and visit Presbyterian Saturday, while Gardner-Webb moves to 10-10 and 4-3 in Big South play.
"I thought Gardner-Webb had a lot to do with it, we just didn't have a great response in the first half," UNC Asheville head coach Mike Morrell said. "You dig yourself a hole against a team that was trying to slow us down and it's hard to come back from that. Proud of our guys for fighting back in the second half, but that's not really a consolation trophy."
Standout Stats
- Bulldogs hold Gardner-Webb to 37.3% shooting but knock down just 6-of-23 threes (26.1%)
- LJ Thorpe scores 16 off the bench
- Gardner-Webb totals 14 points off 17 turnovers
The teams matched each other bucket-for-bucket to open the first, with Gardner-Webb holding a 12-11 at the midpoint of the first. The Runnin' Bulldogs would score 18 of the next 22 points to double up Asheville 30-15 with 5:30 remaining. Asheville got buckets from Jones and Pember, but went into the break trailing 37-23.
Gardner-Webb extended its lead to 19 at the 14-minute mark when Thorpe scored four straight and Stephney knocked down a three to make the lead 12 but the Runnin' Bulldogs would hold that advantage as the clock ticked under 10. A pair of effort plays led to 3-pointers from Jones and Jude, and Asheville's aggressiveness allowed them to pull within three points at the free-throw line (56-53), but could not close the gap anymore as Gardner-Webb took the game.
More from Morrell
On not being able to overcome the deficit:
"We had 17 turnovers. We held them to under 40 percent from the field. We just didn't get enough shots. I thought Williams for them played terrific in the second."
On the crowd at Kimmel Arena:
"It was awesome. It was the best atmosphere that we've had at least in a couple of years. I told the guys that we want to reward them for coming out and like the product that they see. We've just not done a good enough job of protecting home court and I have to help our guys figure it out. We've always played well here and losing three in a row at home is just not acceptable."
Team Stats
GW
UNC-A
FG%
.373
.365
3FG%
.412
.261
FT%
.833
.688
RB
40
35
TO
16
17
STL
10
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
1
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