ASSOCIATED PRESS



UNC Asheville 80, Liberty 70

CONWAY, S.C. (AP) – Andrew Rowsey hit seven 3-pointers and scored 34 points to help sixth-seeded UNC-Asheville beat No. 11 seed Liberty 80-70 in the first round of the Big South Conference tournament on Wednesday night.

It was Rowsey’s third game of at least 34 points this season.

Asheville (15-15) will play third-seeded Coastal Carolina in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Rowsey hit a 3 to close the first half before scoring eight points during a 10-2 run to open the second and Asheville led 43-32 with 16 minutes to play.

Liberty (8-24) scored seven in a row to pull within three with 12:40 left and a dunk by David Andoh cut the Flames’ deficit to 51-49 with 10 minutes remaining.

Asheville responded by scoring 13 of the next 18 and opening up a 10-point cushion before making 14 of 16 free throws in the final 3:26 to seal it.

Andoh led Liberty with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Andrew Smith added 16 and nine.

Gardner-Webb 72, Campbell 64

Jerome Hill had 17 points and 14 rebounds, and Tyrell Nelson added 15 and nine on Wednesday to help 7th-seeded Gardner-Webb beat No. 10 seed Campbell 72-64 in the opening round of the Big South Conference tournament.

Harold McBride scored 15 and Adonis Burbage 10 for Gardner-Webb (19-13), which will play No. 2 seed High Point in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Curtis Phillips led Campbell (10-22), which lost seven of its last eight games, with 20 points. Troy Harper and Reco McCarter scored 13 apiece.

The Bulldogs made 14 of 28 field goals and outrebounded Campbell 20-6 – including 9-1 on the offensive glass – in the first half to take a 40-26 lead into the break.

Phillips’ layup with 3:32 remaining pulled the Camels within 57-49, but Burbage answered with a 3-pointer before Hill scored six-straight Gardner-Webb points, pushing the Bulldogs’ lead to 13 with two minutes remaining.

Longwood 65, Presbyterian 61

Shaquille Johnson had 25 points and a career-high 11 rebounds to help No. 9 seed Longwood slip past eighth-seeded Presbyterian 65-61 in the opening game of the Big South tournament on Wednesday.

Leron Fisher added 16 points and Quincy Taylor 13 for Longwood (10-22), which will face top-seeded Charleston Southern on Friday in the quarterfinals. Fisher and Taylor hit four 3-pointers, and had four assists, apiece.

Fisher and Taylor combined for three-consecutive 3s to ignite a 17-3 run which gave Longwood a 59-50 lead it wouldn’t relinquish with 6:44 remaining.

Presbyterian (10-22), which led by as many as 11 in the first half, pulled within three on three occasions in the final 3:57, but made just 1 of 7 field goals down the stretch.

Markus Terry scored 21 and DeSean Murray added 18 and a career-high tying 13 rebounds for the Blue Hose, who made just 17 of 50 (34 percent) field goals.