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Following their win over High Point last Wednesday night, the Bulldogs moved to 2-0 in the Big South for the first time since the 2002-03 season. Photo courtesy of UNCA

Bryan Smithson scored 27 points and delivered seven assists to lead UNC Asheville to a 74-58 Big South Conference victory in men’s basketball over visiting High Point University before a sell-out crowd of 1,135 at Justice Center last Wednesday night.

The Bulldogs improved to 13-4 overall and 2-0 in the Big South Conference. UNCA is 2-0 in league play for the first time since the 2002-03 season. The Panthers dropped to 8-7 overall and 1-1 in the league.

High Point was led by Arizona Reid with 15 points and a season-high 15 rebounds. The senior forward had his 11th double-double of the season by the end of the first half when he had 11 points and 12 rebounds. Tim Burns pumped in 11 points for the visitors.

 Vincent James finished with 13 points, while Kenny George added 12 points and three blocked shots.
 “I’m really pleased to get this victory against a very good High Point team,” said UNC Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach. “We did a great job on defense in the second half and were able to grind out a tough victory against a tough team.”

The Panthers led 31-27 at halftime and took a 33-27 lead early in the second half before the Bulldogs went on a 15-2 run to roar to a 44-35 lead. UNCA was keyed by Smithson on the run as he scored nine points.

The Bulldogs continued to build on the lead and went up 55-41 on a James three-point play at the 11:40 mark.

High Point crept away and closed to 61-53 on a layup from Burns with 4:14 remaining. However, UNCA scored the next eight points and Smithson finished the run with a steal and dunk to seal the Bulldogs’ first win over the High Point since the 2004-05 season. The Panthers had won the last five meetings between the teams.

Asheville’s defense limited the Panthers to just 27 second-half points. High Point knocked down five three-pointers in the first half to help the visitors take a 31-27 halftime lead. In the second half, High Point was 0-of-6 from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs shot 68 percent (17-of-25) from the field in the second half and finished at 56 percent (28-of-50) for the game.

Smithson was 8-of-12 from the field, 3-of-3 from beyond the race and a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line. He had seven assists and four steals. The senior guard scored 25 of his 27 points in the second half.
In the first half, High Point went on an early 8-0 run to lead 14-6 midway through the half. Reid had six early points to spark the Panthers.

The Bulldogs rallied with a 17-6 run to race to a 23-20 lead. Five different Bulldogs scored during the run.  However, High Point hit back-to-back treys in the first minute of the half to take a 31-27 halftime lead