Men’s Basketball Loses at UNC Asheville

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The Lions' men's basketball team lost at NCAA Division I rival UNC Asheville, 126-75 Wednesday night at Kimmel Arena. MHC fell to 1-3 on the season while the Bulldogs improved to 1-2 on the season.

Bruce Hornsby led Asheville with 21 points, while J.P. Primm just missed a double-double with 19 points and nine assists. Corey Littlejohn added 15 points. Matt Dickey and Trent Myers contributed 13 points each. Dickey had nine assists. Jaleel Roberts went 6-for-6 from the field for 12 points and blocked four shots. Chris Stephenson scored all 12 of his points in the first half.

The Lions were led by Sammy Emile with a game-high 24 points. He also pulled down nine rebounds. Petar Kostic had 12 points. Terrell Harris pumped in 11 points.

The Bulldogs went on a 17-6 run early in the game to grab a 23-14 lead as Asheville got points from five different players. The home team expanded on the lead as the Bulldogs shot 52% (22-of-42) from the field and 53 percent (8-of-15) from long distance. Asheville went on a 14-1 run midway through the half to open up the game and lead 46-21. The Bulldogs led 59-29 at halftime.

The second half was more of the same except Mars Hill was able to get some offense going. Harris scored 14 points in the second half, while Corey Greene scored all 10 of his points.

The Bulldogs finished with a 55-35 rebounding advantage and out-scored the visitors in the paint overall, 80-25. Asheville's bench contributed 76 points. The Bulldogs had 16 steals in the game with Primm and Dickey getting four each.

Mars Hill will host USC Aiken on November 22. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.