National Basketball Association
South Carolina 89, N.C. Asheville 75
When: 8:00 PM ET, Wednesday, November 26, 2014
Where: Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, South Carolina
Officials:
# Tony Henderson, # Anthony Jordan, # Nathan Quick
Attendance:
8330
By SportsDirect Inc.
South Carolina 89, UNC Asheville 75: Laimonas Chatkevicius set career highs with 17 points and 13 rebounds and the host Gamecocks used a 21-2 first-half run to hold off the Bulldogs.
Demetrius Henry added a career-high 15 points with eight rebounds as five players finished in double figures for South Carolina (3-3). Duane Notice, Tyrone Johnson and Sindarius Thornwell each scored 12 points as the Gamecocks shot a season-best 51.7 percent from the field.
Andrew Rowsey finished with a season-high 30 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field and hit 6-of-12 shots from 3-point range for UNC Asheville (2-3), raising his scoring average to a nation-leading 26.6 points per game. David Robertson added 15 points and Kem Ubaru scored nine points with 10 rebounds.
Rowsey scored eight points in the first 5:06 as the Bulldogs led 12-6, but South Carolina scored 21 of the next 23 points, holding UNC Asheville to two free throws over the next 6:38. Justin McKie’s 3-pointer tied the game at 13, Thornwell’s layup with 11:19 to go gave the Gamecocks the lead for good, and Marcus Stroman’s three-point play made it 27-14 with 8:24 left in the half.
Rowsey, who hit four 3-pointers en route to a 16-point first half, brought UNC Asheville within 39-34 on a layup early in the second half before South Carolina gradually extended its advantage again with an 11-4 run. Notice scored the final four points of the surge to put the Gamecocks up 50-38 with 14 minutes remaining, and Thornwell’s steal and dunk pushed the lead to 72-52 with 5:58 to go.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Rowsey moved past Missouri State’s Marcus Marshall (26.0) for the nation's scoring lead. … South Carolina F Michael Carrera, averaging 7.2 points and 3.6 rebounds, missed the game with a concussion. … The Gamecocks limited the Bulldogs to 36.5 percent shooting from the field, although UNC Asheville finished 15-of-29 from 3-point range.
Top Game Performances
N.C. Asheville |
|
South Carolina |
Andrew Rowsey 30 |
Scoring |
Laimonas Chatkevicius 17 |
David Robertson 3 |
Assists |
Tyrone Johnson 6 |
Kem Ubaru 10 |
Rebounds |
Laimonas Chatkevicius 13 |
Andrew Rowsey 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Laimonas Chatkevicius 5 |
Andrew Rowsey 4 |
Steals |
Sindarius Thornwell 6 |
Jaleel Roberts 2 |
Blocks |
Laimonas Chatkevicius 3 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
N.C. Asheville
|
75 |
36.5 |
15-29 |
14-20 |
12 |
30 |
3 |
11 |
22 |
South Carolina
|
89 |
51.7 |
8-17 |
19-26 |
21 |
37 |
10 |
12 |
20 |