UNC Asheville rallies to beat Gardner-Webb 77-71 in final road game

UNC Asheville erased a three-point halftime deficit and outscored Gardner-Webb 43-34 in the second half to secure a 77-71 road victory Thursday night inside Paul Porter Arena in Boiling Springs. The game was UNC Asheville's final road outing of the regular season and pushed the Bulldogs to 14-15 overall and 8-7 in Big South play.

Rebounding and second-chance scoring tilted the game. UNC Asheville collected 39 rebounds to Gardner-Webb's 23, including 15 offensive boards that led to 20 second-chance points compared with Gardner-Webb's eight. Those advantages underpinned Asheville's late surge and helped close out the final minutes at the foul line.

Kameron Taylor led Asheville with 24 points, finishing 8-of-16 from the field and 7-of-12 from the line, while adding eight rebounds and five assists. Taylor totaled 17 of his points in the second half and scored nine straight in a decisive stretch, "converting tough jumpers and knocking down free throws" to help build a 72-65 lead with just over two minutes to play.

The second half featured a string of timely threes and defensive plays. Taylor buried a 3-pointer to cut the margin to two at 55-53; after Gardner-Webb pushed the lead back to four, Justin Wright answered with a triple to make it 59-58. With just over six minutes remaining, Wright tied the score at 61 following a steal by DJ Patrick, swinging momentum in Asheville's favor before Taylor's decisive scoring run.

Supporting contributions were prominent. Toyaz Solomon added 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting with eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks, while Justin Wright finished with 16 points, shooting 5-for-13 overall and 3-for-7 from three-point range with three made triples and six rebounds. DJ Patrick contributed 14 points behind four triples, seven rebounds and two steals, including the steal that set up Wright's tying basket.

Gardner-Webb received 13 points and seven rebounds from Jacob Hogarth but could not overcome UNC Asheville's interior advantage. The Runnin' Bulldogs dropped to 3-27 overall and 1-14 in Big South play with their eighth straight loss. The game officials listed in the box score were Mark Schnur, Ben Stirt and Justin McKie.

The win leaves UNC Asheville at 8-7 in conference with one regular-season road game remaining completed; the program characterized the result as "a hard-fought result and a sign of late-season momentum." UNC Asheville is scheduled to host Charleston Southern on Saturday at 2 p.m. EST, with Yahoo Sports noting the Bulldogs are 8-6 in home games and rank seventh in the Big South with 9.3 offensive rebounds per game.