Sports
11.30.2011 I The Blue Banner I 11
Utah, y^|||y,i|ij|||*y Bulldogs demolish Pac-1
^ * member, gain experience
Todd Marshall
tmarshal@unca.edu - Staff Writer
Senior
The Bulldogs roared past Pac-12 member
Utah, 87-65, in the final game of the Battle “4’'
Atlantis Tournament.
“This is a great win for UNC Asheville. To
I lose two tough games like we did back-to-back
and to come out and play as well as we did is
very encouraging,” said UNC Asheville Coach
Eddie Biedenhach. “We grew up a little bit to
night. 1 thought we had a tremendous team ef
fort as everybody who played contributed and
made plays for us this evening.”
UNCA (3-4) finished in seventh place in the
tournament after losing close games to Con
necticut and College of Charleston the first
two nights.
J.P. Primm scored 20 points and earned his
500th career assist Saturday night against
Utah.
The Bulldogs began the tournament by los-
I ing to #4 UConn at Imperial Arena late Thurs
day night.
Matt Dickey led UNCA with 18 points,
while Jeremy Atkinson added 14 points and
nine rebounds. Primm finished with 10 points
and seven assists.
After UConn raced to a 16-3 lead and took a
38-29 advantage in the second half, the Bull
dogs’ Chris Stephenson scored a 3-pointer to
cut UConn’s lead to seven with 17:12 to play.
“We’ve played in games where we had to
fight back,” Dickey said. “When we cut it to
seven, we definitely had a feeling we could
make a comeback. A couple breaks that would
have gone our way, and we could have gotten it
closer and made a real run of it at the end.”
The Bulldogs made their run late but could
not get any closer with the game ending, 73-
63.
Huskie Coach Jim Calhoun was impressed
with the Bulldogs.
They (UNCA) played the 100 percent
against the way we want to play, and if we
stopped doing things the right way for a min
ute, they came right back at us. 1 wouldn’t want
to play them every single day,” Calhoun said in
a press conference.
In the consolation round, UNCA lost a heart-
breaker to Charleston on Friday night, 68-66.
The Bulldogs (2-4) had a chance to tie with
seconds remaining, but Primm couldn’t get a
shot off as the buzzer sounded, giving the Cou
gars the win.
UNCA was led by Dickey with 20 points,
while Stephenson added 19 points and eight
rebounds.
“This is a great way for us to go into Big
South Conference play,” said Biedenbach.
“These three games will help us throughout the
year starting on Thursday night.”
UNCA opens conference play Thursday
Matt Dickey led the Bulldogs against UConn, rcm^gl'^pointr”''''’'’’'?5;30 Gardner-Webb
Featured Bulldog
J.P. Primm
Standout play: Scored 20
points in the game against
Utah Saturday night and
earned his 'SOOth career
assist.
Hometown:
Dickson, Tenn.
Class: Senior
Q: What’s your favorite
thing about UNCA?
A: My favorite thing about
UNCA is probably the cul
ture part of the .university,
and the people that Make the
university a great one.
Q: How long have
played basketball?
you
A: I’ve been playing ball
since 1 was 5.
Q: What’s your major?
A: Mass Commiuiication
Q: What dp you plan on
doing after college?
A: I plan on playing in
the NBA or overseas, then
coaching.
Q: Who has been an inspi
ration for you in your life?
A: My mom has influ
enced me to never give up on
anything I want in life. My
brother that plays pro basket
ball in Turkey inspires me.