Men's Basketball Loses Exhibition to UNC Asheville

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Mars Hill's men's basketball team lost an exhibition game to NCAA Division I opponent UNC Asheville 84-51 Wednesday night in Kimmel Arena.

Patrick Monroe led the Lions with 16 points hitting four 3-pointers. He also pulled down six rebounds. Brandon McCarter followed with nine points. MHU connected on only 27.7% (18-65) of their shots from the floor, 22.6% (7-31) of their 3-point attempts and 57.1% (8-14) of their free throw attempts.

UNC Asheville was led by Dwayne Sutton who scored 16 points and tallied seven rebounds. Sam Hughes and John Cannon followed with 11 points apiece. The Bulldogs hit 49.3% (34-69) of their shots from the floor, scoring 26 points in the paint and 18 second chance points. UNC Asheville won the battle of the boards, 52-37.

After Patrick Monroe hit a jumper with 16:15 left in the first half to give Mars Hill a 5-4 lead, the Bulldogs scored 16 unanswered points to take a 20-5 lead with 9:55 left in the first period after John  Cannon hit a pair of free throws. UNC Asheville would enjoy their largest lead of 29 points in the first frame when David Robertson hit a half-court shot as the buzzer sounded to send the teams into the locker rooms for the intermission to make the score 46-17. In the first half, Mars Hill connected on only 25% (8-32) of the shots from the floor, 8.3% (1-12) of their 3-point attempts and were 0-4 at the charity stripe. The Bulldogs hit 54.5% (18-33) from the floor, 50% (4-8) from behind the arc and 42.9% (6-14) from the foul line. UNC Asheville out rebounded the Lions 26-17 in the first half of play.

Mars Hill would not get any closer in the second half. UNC Asheville led by as many as 43 points (71-28) with 9:47 left in the contest after Dylan Smith hit a shot in the lane. The Bulldogs maintained a comfortable lead the remainder of regulation.

Mars Hill will host Crown College on Thursday, November 19, for their home opener in Stanford Arena. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.