ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Bryan Smithson scored 21 points
and John Williams delivered a key block in the final seconds to
lift UNC Asheville to a 79-76 men's basketball win over visiting
Campbell Thursday night at the Justice Center.
Reid Augst added 19 points,
including two foul shots to provide the final margin with 12
seconds left in the contest, for the Bulldogs (7-2), who are off to
their best start in 23 years. K.J. Garland scored 15 points and
dealt eight assists.
The loss spoiled a
career-high 34-point effort by
Campbell sophomore Jonathan Rodriguez, who hit 14-of-19 from the
field, and grabbed a season-best 15 rebounds. Jake Wohlfeil came off the bench to
score a season-high 15 points on 5-of-9 threes for the Camels
(2-6), who came back from an 11-point deficit with 11:02 to go, but
suffered their third-straight loss.
Williams' foul
shot gave UNCA a 77-76 edge with 33.8 seconds remaining, but he
missed the second free throw. The Camels rebounded and Bishop drove
to the bucket, but Williams blocked the shot and Reid Augst
rebounded and hit both foul shots with 12 seconds to go. Wohlfeil and Julius Perkins got
off three-point attempts, but both bounded off the rim.
The lead
changed hands six times in the last 4:50 of play.
Asheville
stretched the gap to 47-37 on John Williams' foul shot with 15:49
remaining before Rodriguez scored on the break, Wohlfeil hit a trey
and Rodriguez added a free throw to bring the Camels back within
47-43 with 13:33 left.
Augst hit a three, scored underneath and Smithson canned a triple
while the Camels made two turnovers and missed a shot to push the
gap back to 10 at 55-45.
The lead
reached 58-47 before Rodriguez converted a three-point play,
Preston Dodson made 3-of-4 from the stripe and Wohlfeil canned his
fourth triple of the night to bring the Camels back within 60-56
with 8:27 to go. After
Garland hit a baseline jumper, Vejraska's three at the key cut the
gap to 62-59 with 7:47 left – the closest the Camels had been
since the 10:08 mark of the first half.
George
was called for offensive goaltending, then Rodriguez scored
underneath and the 7-foot-7 center was whistled for his fourth
personal foul with 4:52 remaining. Rodriguez missed the free throw, but
Vejraska rebounded and converted both from the line after Garrett
Moles committed his fifth personal foul and the Camels led 69-68 to
cap a 22-10 rally.
UNCA led
40-33 at the half as Garland had 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting and
five assists. Smithson and
Augst chipped in nine apiece before intermission as the Bulldogs
shot 54 percent (14-26) from the floor and made 9-of-10 from the
stripe in the opening period. Rodriguez had 12 points at the break
for Campbell, which made just 36 percent (12-33) of its first-half
attempts.
Rodriguez'
three tied the score at 20-all with 10:08 left in the opening half,
but the Bulldogs went on a 14-3 run over the next 6:31 to take a
34-23 lead. Campbell made
just one field goal over a 7:30 span until Wohlfeil hit a triple
from the left corner, then Rodriguez scored in transition to trim
the gap to 34-28.
Campbell
finished with a
37-33 advantage on the boards against the taller Bulldogs. George pulled down a game-high
12 rebounds and had five blocked shots, plus eight points. In UNCA's 83-71 victory last
month at Buies Creek, George had a triple-double with 20 points, 12
boards and 10 rejections.
Campbell
finished the
game shooting 40.3 percent (25-62) from the field and made 9-of-24
(.375) from 3-point range.
The Camels hit 17-of-22 (.773) from the line, but UNCA made
21-of-27 (.778) from the stripe and converted 26-of-52 from the
floor. UNCA made 6-of-16
threes, but the Camels had a 12-4 edge in fast break points and
outscored the Bulldogs 36-26 in the paint.
Rodriguez entered the
game leading the Atlantic Sun Conference in scoring (19.3) and
rebounding (10.9), then produced his sixth double-double in eight
contests this year.
Campbell hosts Liberty on Saturday at
7:30 p.m., in the second game of a doubleheader with the Lady
Camels, who entertain Iona at 5:30, at Carter Gym.
