University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Wednesday, February 22
Asheville, NC
6:30 pm
UNC Asheville
23-7,15-2Big South
80
vs
62
Charleston Southern
8-20,4-13Big South
1
2
F
Charleston So.
36
26
62
UNC Asheville
37
43
80
Strong Second Half Powers Asheville Past Charleston Southern, 80-62
02.22.2023 | Men's Basketball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Tajion Jones matched a career-high with 30 points, tied the single-game school record with eight 3-pointers made, and became the third Bulldog ever to score 1,900 career points in his final game at Kimmel Arena on Wednesday vs. Charleston Southern. The play of Jones and the rest of Bulldogs led to a second half surge by Asheville as it downed the Buccaneers by a score of 80-62. The victory improves Asheville's overall record to 23-7 and 15-2 in Big South play.
The victory not only brings Asheville's win total to 23, which is one shy of the program record, but it also caps a perfect 13-0 record for Asheville at Kimmel Arena. The Bulldogs have now gone undefeated at home four times in program history with the last time being in the 1997-98 season. Furthermore, the Bulldogs are now one Big South victory away from becoming the fourth team in league history to win 16 or more conference games in a season.
Individually, Jones led the way for the Bulldogs with his 30 points on Wednesday. His 30 points on Wednesday gives Jones 1,913 points in his career as a Bulldog. Jones, who is just the 15th player in Big South history to score 1,900 points, needs to score just seven more points to become Asheville's all-time scoring leader. Additionally, Jones has now made 347 3-pointers in his time as Asheville, which ranks fifth in Big South history.
In addition to Jones, Drew Pember had another stellar night finishing with 23 points to go with 10 rebounds for his 13th double-double of the season. Nick McMullen joined Pember with a double-double as well as he chipped in 10 points to go with a career-high 12 rebounds.
Wednesday's game began with both teams having sizable runs in the first 20 minutes. Charleston Southern sparked a 13-0 run on Asheville to open a nine-point lead, 21-12, with 12:07 to go in the half. However, the Bulldogs did not panic and reeled off a 12-0 run of their own that was capped by a 3-pointer from Fletcher Abee to make the score 30-24 Asheville.
The two teams continued to jostle with the lead in the final few minutes of the first half. The Bulldogs, who got 12 points from Pember and 10 points from Jones in the opening 20 minutes, took a one-point lead, 37-36, into the locker room for halftime.
When the game resumed, Jones and Pember continued to cause trouble for Charleston Southern. Jones scored 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the field that included a 6-for-8 effort from beyond the arc, while Pember added 11 points of his own in the second half.
With Jones, Pember, and the rest of the Bulldogs playing so well, Asheville saw its lead grow to as many as 20 points before ultimately finishing with an 18-point win, 80-62.
Asheville will close out the regular season on Saturday with a trip to Longwood. Tip-off between the Bulldogs and Lancers is set for 4:30 p.m. on ESPN3.
The victory not only brings Asheville's win total to 23, which is one shy of the program record, but it also caps a perfect 13-0 record for Asheville at Kimmel Arena. The Bulldogs have now gone undefeated at home four times in program history with the last time being in the 1997-98 season. Furthermore, the Bulldogs are now one Big South victory away from becoming the fourth team in league history to win 16 or more conference games in a season.
Individually, Jones led the way for the Bulldogs with his 30 points on Wednesday. His 30 points on Wednesday gives Jones 1,913 points in his career as a Bulldog. Jones, who is just the 15th player in Big South history to score 1,900 points, needs to score just seven more points to become Asheville's all-time scoring leader. Additionally, Jones has now made 347 3-pointers in his time as Asheville, which ranks fifth in Big South history.
In addition to Jones, Drew Pember had another stellar night finishing with 23 points to go with 10 rebounds for his 13th double-double of the season. Nick McMullen joined Pember with a double-double as well as he chipped in 10 points to go with a career-high 12 rebounds.
Wednesday's game began with both teams having sizable runs in the first 20 minutes. Charleston Southern sparked a 13-0 run on Asheville to open a nine-point lead, 21-12, with 12:07 to go in the half. However, the Bulldogs did not panic and reeled off a 12-0 run of their own that was capped by a 3-pointer from Fletcher Abee to make the score 30-24 Asheville.
Abee for threeee! #ALLinAVL #IWWD pic.twitter.com/EZmRPrt5CX
— Asheville Basketball (@UNCAvlMBB) February 23, 2023
The two teams continued to jostle with the lead in the final few minutes of the first half. The Bulldogs, who got 12 points from Pember and 10 points from Jones in the opening 20 minutes, took a one-point lead, 37-36, into the locker room for halftime.
When the game resumed, Jones and Pember continued to cause trouble for Charleston Southern. Jones scored 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the field that included a 6-for-8 effort from beyond the arc, while Pember added 11 points of his own in the second half.
Tajion hits his eighth 3-pointer of the night & that ties the program's single-game record! #ALLinAVL #IWWD pic.twitter.com/zijffPdr3x
— Asheville Basketball (@UNCAvlMBB) February 23, 2023
With Jones, Pember, and the rest of the Bulldogs playing so well, Asheville saw its lead grow to as many as 20 points before ultimately finishing with an 18-point win, 80-62.
Asheville will close out the regular season on Saturday with a trip to Longwood. Tip-off between the Bulldogs and Lancers is set for 4:30 p.m. on ESPN3.
Team Stats
ChaSou
AVL
FG%
.365
.577
3FG%
.292
.526
FT%
1.000
.714
RB
25
37
TO
8
17
STL
4
3
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
30
FGM
10
3FGM
8
FTM
2
Pts
23
FGM
8
3FGM
1
FTM
6
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
7
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
G
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