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UNC-Asheville sweeps pair of games from Western Carolina
UNC-Asheville's men's and women's basketball teams swept games from Western Carolina in the Mountain Hoops Classic played Saturday at the Asheville Civic Center.
Men
UNC-Asheville led from start to finish, built a 21-point halftime advantage then held off Western Carolina for its first win of the year, 85-71, before 1,521 fans.
K.J. Garland led a balanced Bulldog attack with 16 points, He received support from Joseph Barber with 15, Steven Rush with 14 and Bryan McCullough and Chad Mohn with 13 apiece.
Western's Rans Brempong had a big night with 28 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks. Corey Muirhead and Trey Hopkins both scored 11 points.
UNC-A jumped to a 14-2 lead after two free throws by Garland with 13:51 to go in the first half. Barber had four in the early spurt.
The Bulldogs remained in control the rest of the half, which ended with a 51-30 lead.
The Catamounts (3-6) made a move to get back in the game as Brempong and Muirhead both had four points in an 8-0 spurt cutting the gap to 53-44 at the 15:28 mark.
Western came as close as 71-65 on Hopkins' jumper with 3:49 to play and had a chance to get closer, but Hopkins missed a layup a few seconds later.
Mohn's three-pointer pushed the lead back to 76-66 at the 2:31 mark, and the Bulldogs pulled away to seal the win.
Mohn's 11 rebounds keyed UNC-A to a 39-34 edge on the boards.
The Bulldogs shot 48.3 percent from the field compared to Western's 43.3 percent.
UNC-A committed 18 turnovers, and the Cats had 14.
Completing the WCU scoring were David Berghoefer with nine, Antonio Russell with seven, Terrence Woodyard with four and Jared Outing with one.
Women
In the first game of the evening, the Lady Bulldogs emerged with an 83-72 victory behind 16 points each from Andrea Clapp and Stacy Shepard. Velinda Vuncannon followed with 12 points, and Katie Baldwin had 10.
Monique Dawson, Leah Barrier and Jessika Johnson all netted 11 points for the Lady Cats (4-2).
The first half was close until UNC-A went on a 10-2 run for a 31-23 advantage on Alli Opher's three-pointer with 4:54 on the clock.
The Lady Bulldogs were up 43-33 at intermission then scored the first eight points of the second half to lead 51-33 after two foul shots by Baldwin at the 16:04 mark.
Barrier had seven points in an 11-0 spurt cutting the gap to 51-44 on a Johnson free throw with 13:19 to play.
The Lady Cats kept the pressure on and closed within 60-59 when Dawson hit two foul shots to cap an 8-0 run, including four by Jennifer Gardner, with 8:28 remaining.
They trailed only 70-68 on two Dawson free throws with 3:43 left in the game.
Shepard hit a layup, and Laura Kirby converted a three-point play helping UNC-A regain control and take a 75-68 lead at the 2:13 mark.
The Lady Bulldogs made 50.9 percent of their field goal tries while holding WCU to 43.1 percent.
Western won the rebounding battle 38-31. Teywawna Hardy paced the Lady Cats, and Clapp led UNC-A with seven apiece.
WCU committed 17 turnovers, and the Lady Bulldogs had 12.
Completing the WCU scoring were Shaketia Barnes with eight, Ashley Pellom with seven, Lori Tanner with six, Gardner, Chevon Keith and Christi Mannino all with four, and Hardy, Sigita Maleraite and Erin May all with two.
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