No. 1 UNC Asheville Holds Off No. 8 Charleston Southern to Reach Semifinals
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Top-seeded UNC Asheville advanced to the semifinals of the 2018 Big South Conference Men's Basketball Championship with a thrilling 71-66 victory over eighth-seeded Charleston Southern on Thursday, March 1, at Kimmel Arena.
BOX SCORE
POSTGAME REACTION
With the win, UNC Asheville (21-11) moves on to face the winner of the fifth-seeded Liberty-fourth-seeded Campbell game at approximately 8 p.m. on Friday, March 2, at Kimmel Arena. The game will be streamed live on ESPN3.
The two teams would play close over the first few minutes of the game, but an 8-0 run over a four-minute stretch garnered UNC Asheville a 19-11 lead with under 11 minutes remaining in the first half. The Bulldogs held Charleston Southern (15-16) scoreless for almost five minutes during the run.
The Bulldogs would own their first double-digit lead of the game at 28-18 after a MaCio Teague three-pointer with 6:26 remaining in the first half.
The two teams would enter the halftime break with UNC Asheville leading Charleston Southern, 41-34.
Teague led the Bulldogs in the first half with 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Teague knocked three treys in the first half.
UNC Asheville ended the first half shooting 14-of-26 (53.8 percent) as a team. Charleston Southern shot 48.3 percent (14-of-29) in half No. 1.
The second half would be back and forth over the first few minutes, but UNC Asheville once again held a 10-point advantage at 59-49 after an Ahmad Thomas layup off an assist from Drew Rackley.
Charleston Southern would get as close as three down the stretch, but UNC Asheville through stout defense and a clutch mid-range jumper from Thomas with 10 seconds remaining held on for the thrilling five-point win.
UNC Asheville's Raekwon Miller just missed on a triple-double in the game with 12 points to go along with nine rebounds and a career-best nine assists.
Four Bulldogs finished in double figures in total with Thomas ending his night with 17 points to go along with five rebounds, four steals and three assists.
Teague matched Thomas for team-high honors with 17 points. He also had four rebounds and one steal.
The final Bulldog in double figures was Jonathan Baehre, who had 10 points, one rebound and one pivotal game-changing block in the final minutes of the game.
Charleston Southern's Christian Keeling led all in the game with 24 points.
UNC Asheville shot 48.1 percent (26-of-54) as a team in its win over Charleston Southern. The Buccaneers finished their loss to Asheville shooting 42.9 percent (24-of-56).