{The Blue Banner}
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Men’s basketball scare nationally ranked UNC
Justin Stewart
JASTEWAR@UNCA.EDU
STAFF WRITER
UNC Asheville men’s basketball team
traveled to Chapel Hill last week and gave
the No. 25 University of North Carolina a
scare at the Dean Smith Center.
The Bulldogs, fresh off a monumental
116-58 win against Virginia Intermont last
Saturday, went into Orange County Tues
day night looking to pull off an even big
ger upset than their regular season opener,
a 70-69 overtime victory at Auburn on
Nov. 12.
Adversely, Carolina went into the Nov.
23 contest with back-to-back losses hang
ing over their heads. The Tar Heels lost to
the University of Minnesota Golden Go
phers and the Vanderbilt Commodores in
the previous weekend’s Puerto Rico Tip-
Off tournament. As a result, the Tar Heels
plummeted 17 spots from the NCAA’s No.
8 rank just days later.
UNC looked to bounce back from their
two straight losses in front of a raucous sky
blue-clad home crowd, but the Bulldogs
proved to be no cupcake for the traditional
Atlantic Coast Conference powerhouse
program.
Although UNCA rallied late to almost
close what was a 22-point Tar Heel lead
deep in the second half. Bulldog Head
Coach Eddie Biedenbach and his squad
fell to UNC skipper and Asheville native
Roy Williams’ bunch, 69-80.
The Bulldogs trailed by only 13 at the
half, and while standout performances from
junior guards J.P. Primm and Matt Dickey
led the way, some of UNCA’s bench play
ers stepped up in the final period to keep
Carolina’s fast-paced offensive tempo at
Junior guard Matt Dickey takes firm controi of the Auburn Tigers.
bay.
Both Primm and Dickey have scored
double figures every game this year. Primm,
who entered the contest with an average of
15 points per game, posted a season-high
21 to go along with his three assists and
four rebounds of the night. Dickey, who
averages 20 points per game, dropped 15
points along with four rebounds and four
assists.
UNCA’s guard tandem may have paced
the Bulldcjgs, but contributions from for
ward Jon Nwannunu and fellow sopho
more guard Jaron Lane helped keep the
grudge match of UNC system schools very
close in the late going.
Nwannunu, a junior college transfer
from Indiana, registered eight points and
five boards in 23 minutes of play off the
bench. Although Lane shot only one-for-
eight from the field, his five rebounds in
26 minutes of playing time proved key to
UNCA’s comeback efforts against the Tar
Heels.
UNCA put up a good fight well into the
game’s later stages, but they suffered a pro
longed scoring drought in the closing five
minutes of the contest, which prevented
them from overcoming the Tar Heels’ slim,
single-digit lead.
“In the second half, I thought we were
much better at limiting their fast breaks,’’
Biedenbach said. “They run the ball hard
and they are going to come at us both ways,
the offensive and defensive ends.”
UNC sported a team free throw percent
age of nearly 75 percent for the game, but
the Bulldogs could not capitalize on the Tar
Heels’ crucial missed attempts from the
charity stripe in the second half. Although
UNCA committed only 10 turnovers, a
season low, they struggled from the floor
and shot only 37 percent as a team.
The Bulldogs were forced to compete
against a stout UNC interior without se
nior forward John Williams, who sat out
the second half with a concussion. High
lighted by their highly touted junior center,
7-footer Tyler Zeller, the Tar Heels out-
rebounded the Bulldogs 48 to 27.
“We weren’t on the offensive boards
at all,” Biedenbach said. “They shot too
many layups in the first half and got too
many offensive rebounds and defensive,
rebounds.”
As Zeller exploited the Bulldogs’ inside
game, the talented UNC big man went for
a career-high 23 points. That mark broke
his personal best, set just one game prior,
where he scored 20 against Vanderbilt.
Zeller also grabbed seven rebounds in last
Tuesday’s in-state roundball rivalry.
See scare Page 191
Bulldogs spear the Spartans back to South Carolina
Amari Clements
ACLEMENT@UNCA.EDU
staff writer
The UNC Asheville women’s basketball
team is dominating the court at the start of
the season, posting a 3-1 record after their
win against USC Upstate.
The 95-76 victory against-the Spartans
ignited new momentum for the Bulldogs.
“I thought we came out with a great deal
of energy,” Head Coach Betsy Blose said.
“We were able to get out and run and get a
lot of easy baskets in
transition. I thought
we were pretty con
sistent throughout
the game.”
The leading scorer
was junior guard
LindseyThompson,
who scored a career-
high 26 points in the
Nov. 23 game.
M
Betsy Blose
“I didn’t know how many I had,”
Thompson said. “I was shocked when they
told me.”
Behind her was senior guard Kendall
Shepard, who contributed 19 points of her
own. Both shot 100 percent from the free
throw line.
“We’ve got contributions from a lot of
different people. Kendall Shepard and
Lindsey Thompson continue to play very,
very well for us. They’ve been pretty con
sistent from the get-go,” Blose said.
Two other Bulldogs were in double fig
ures against the Spartanburg-based team.
Redshirt sophomore Kelli Riles had 12
points, and sophomore Breaira Barksdale
had 15.
“Kelli Riles continues to do a great job
on the defensive board, and we had a pretty
solid play from Breaira Barksdale. She’s
definitely one of the reasons we’re able to
control the tempo,” Blose said.
To start off the game, Thompson made a
layup that Upstate forward Madisen Webb
immediately returned.
Upstate put up three shots from behind
See bulldogs Page 20