University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Wednesday, January 5
Buies Creek, N.C.
7:00 PM
UNC Asheville
9-5,1-0Big South
60
at
54
Campbell
7-5,0-1Big South
1
2
F
UNC Asheville
33
27
60
Campbell
30
24
54
Thorpe totaled 14 points, eight rebounds, six assists Wednesday
Photo by: PHOTO BY BENNETT SCARBOROUGH
Second-half run lifts men’s basketball to 60-54 victory at Campbell
01.05.2022 | Men's Basketball
Bulldogs outscore Camels 16-2 down the stretch in Big South opener
BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Trailing by eight points with 5:30 to play, UNC Asheville men's basketball team went on a 16-2 run to close out its game against Campbell, topping the Camels 60-54 in its Big South opener at Gore Arena on Wednesday night.
"We were able to get some stops and Drew (Pember) was able to move a lot of shots that got our transition going for us to close the gap," said UNC Asheville Head Coach Mike Morrell on the way his team closed the game. "Tay (Jones) hit a three to stop the bleeding for us to get everything going and I just thought LJ (Thorpe) and Trent (Stephney) were huge for us down the stretch."
Getting production throughout its lineup, Tajion Jones led the scoring effort for Asheville with 16 points, while LJ Thorpe scored 14, grabbed eight rebounds and handed out six assists. Defensively, Drew Pember was the story of the game, nearly registering a triple-double with a career-high eight blocks to go along with nine points and nine rebounds in the win. As a team, the Bulldogs held Campbell - who received first-place votes in the Big South Preseason Poll – to just 16.7 percent shooting from 3-point range.
"Really complete effort by everybody," Morrell said of the win. "We were an assistant coach down, we were missing Silas Mason. It's just huge to go on the road and get our first Big South win. Those are hard to come by in our league."
Standout Stats
Improving its record to 9-5 and starting 1-0 in the Big South, Asheville returns home on Saturday, facing Charleston Southern at approximately 4:30 p.m. Campbell, meanwhile, falls to 7-5 on the season with an 0-1 start to conference play. A reminder that attendance is limited to player-pass ONLY through January 16.
How it Happened
Pember opened up the game with back-to-back 3-pointers as Jude and Jones would each follow suit with two threes of their own to give the Bulldogs a 19-9 advantage. The preseason favorite to win the North division, Campbell battled back to tie the score at 22-22, but Trent Stephney scored in the lane and found Quay Kimble as Asheville went back ahead by five, taking a 33-30 advantage into the half.
The Camels came out strong in the second, taking a six-point lead with 10 minutes to play. Thorpe would come alive with consecutive buckets to make the deficit two, but Campbell responded and pushed its lead to eight with just over five minutes remaining. A Jones three would spark a 13-0 run by the Bulldogs in which Pember would swat four shots in a 24-second span. Clinging to a three-point lead with time winding down, Stephney made a free throw and missed the second, but Pember was there to collect his eighth block of the night which led to a transition dunk from Jones as the Bulldogs claimed the contest 60-54.
More from Morrell
On Drew Pember:
"Drew's extremely unique as a player both offensively and defensively. He got the game started with two huge threes. He had a tough start to the second but I thought his response was great. He's such a fun kid to coach. Tonight wasn't perfect for him, but man when we needed him the most he really stepped up."
On the strong performance after 14 days in between games:
"Well, I think that's one of the blessings of having an older team. A lot of it is just the decision you make to go out there and gut it out. Doesn't have to be perfect, you can't control everything. Trent Stephney's been limited but he played 38 minutes tonight and we needed every second of it. That's just one example that these guys are willing to sacrifice for this win, and I'm thankful it worked out."
"We were able to get some stops and Drew (Pember) was able to move a lot of shots that got our transition going for us to close the gap," said UNC Asheville Head Coach Mike Morrell on the way his team closed the game. "Tay (Jones) hit a three to stop the bleeding for us to get everything going and I just thought LJ (Thorpe) and Trent (Stephney) were huge for us down the stretch."
Getting production throughout its lineup, Tajion Jones led the scoring effort for Asheville with 16 points, while LJ Thorpe scored 14, grabbed eight rebounds and handed out six assists. Defensively, Drew Pember was the story of the game, nearly registering a triple-double with a career-high eight blocks to go along with nine points and nine rebounds in the win. As a team, the Bulldogs held Campbell - who received first-place votes in the Big South Preseason Poll – to just 16.7 percent shooting from 3-point range.
"Really complete effort by everybody," Morrell said of the win. "We were an assistant coach down, we were missing Silas Mason. It's just huge to go on the road and get our first Big South win. Those are hard to come by in our league."
Standout Stats
- Asheville shoots 50% from 3-point range (7-of-14), 47.1% from the floor
- Bulldogs hold Campbell to just 2-of-12 from 3-point range (16.7%)
- Pember swats 7 shots in second half, finishes with career-high 8 blocks
- Thorpe, Jones combine for 30 points & 12 rebounds on 13-of-24 shooting (19 points in second)
Improving its record to 9-5 and starting 1-0 in the Big South, Asheville returns home on Saturday, facing Charleston Southern at approximately 4:30 p.m. Campbell, meanwhile, falls to 7-5 on the season with an 0-1 start to conference play. A reminder that attendance is limited to player-pass ONLY through January 16.
How it Happened
Pember opened up the game with back-to-back 3-pointers as Jude and Jones would each follow suit with two threes of their own to give the Bulldogs a 19-9 advantage. The preseason favorite to win the North division, Campbell battled back to tie the score at 22-22, but Trent Stephney scored in the lane and found Quay Kimble as Asheville went back ahead by five, taking a 33-30 advantage into the half.
The Camels came out strong in the second, taking a six-point lead with 10 minutes to play. Thorpe would come alive with consecutive buckets to make the deficit two, but Campbell responded and pushed its lead to eight with just over five minutes remaining. A Jones three would spark a 13-0 run by the Bulldogs in which Pember would swat four shots in a 24-second span. Clinging to a three-point lead with time winding down, Stephney made a free throw and missed the second, but Pember was there to collect his eighth block of the night which led to a transition dunk from Jones as the Bulldogs claimed the contest 60-54.
More from Morrell
On Drew Pember:
"Drew's extremely unique as a player both offensively and defensively. He got the game started with two huge threes. He had a tough start to the second but I thought his response was great. He's such a fun kid to coach. Tonight wasn't perfect for him, but man when we needed him the most he really stepped up."
On the strong performance after 14 days in between games:
"Well, I think that's one of the blessings of having an older team. A lot of it is just the decision you make to go out there and gut it out. Doesn't have to be perfect, you can't control everything. Trent Stephney's been limited but he played 38 minutes tonight and we needed every second of it. That's just one example that these guys are willing to sacrifice for this win, and I'm thankful it worked out."
Team Stats
UNC-A
Campb
FG%
.471
.400
3FG%
.500
.167
FT%
.625
.571
RB
31
35
TO
9
6
STL
2
2
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
16
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
G
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