THE GAME
Gardner-Webb will honor seniors
L'Hassane Niangane,
Liam O'Reilly and
Jamaal Robateau Saturday afternoon before the tip of the regular season finale at 4:32 pm vs. league leader UNC Asheville. The second installment of the Battle of the Bulldogs will stream live on ESPN3 (WatchESPN) and the ESPN app, with Evan Lepler and Jeff Jackson on the call from Paul Porter Arena.The second installment of the Battle of the Bulldogs will stream live on ESPN3 (WatchESPN) and the ESPN app, with Evan Lepler and Jeff Jackson on the call from Paul Porter Arena.
GARDNER-WEBB QUICK LOOK
• Gardner-Webb won on the road for just the third time this season on February 22 at Presbyterian, leading by as many
as 29 points before settling in for a 78-63 win. In each of its three road wins this season, GWU has scored exactly
42 points in the paint.
• In its January 24 loss at UNC Asheville, Gardner-Webb played just seven players in the game and only four of those
scored points.
DJ Laster had 25 points,
David Efianayi added 18,
Liam O'Reilly scored 11 and
Patrick Zeck scored six.
O'Reilly and Efianayi combined to shoot just 7-of-24 from the floor (29.1 percent)
• In its seven league wins so far, Gardner-Webb is allowing just 58.5 ppg with a 23.8 percent defensive effort against
opposing three-point shooters. In its five league wins at home, GWU is allowing just 54.2 ppg and 20.3 percent from
long range.
• Gardner-Webb has found three double figures scorers for the second season in a row, with
David Efianayi (17.5 ppg),
DJ Laster (13.8 ppg) and
Liam O'Reilly (14.4 ppg) each enjoying career-best years.
• Efianayi is averaging 18.6 points per game vs. the teams in the top three spots in the current Big South
standings. He has made 28-of-30 free throws in those five games vs. UNC Asheville, Winthrop (x2) and Radford (x2).
• Efianayi has reached his career-high scoring total of 31 three times over the past two seasons. GWU is 3-0 in those
games vs. Howard (11/19/16), Campbell (1/3/18) and Presbyterian (2/22/18).
• O'Reilly posted his third double-double of the season on February 22 at Presbyterian, scoring 11 points and dishing
off a career-high 10 assists (one turnover). The Austin, Texas, senior's previous two double-doubles came via
scoring and rebounds in losses to Jacksonville and Longwood.
• Gardner-Webb has gone 6-6 this season in games decided by two possessions or less – or in overtime. One of those
losses came at UCF in November (68-65). GWU is 6-3 in those type games against Big South Conference foes this
season. The Runnin' Bulldogs were only 1-8 in those games last season. One of the losses came on February 18
at High Point (66-65). That location and opponent marked GWU's only win in a close game last season.
• Freshman point guard
Jaheam Cornwall earned his first career start at High Point on February 18. The Brooklyn,
N.Y., native responded with 10 points, a career-high six rebounds and an assist in a career-high 34 minutes. Cornwall
made 4-of-8 shots (2-of-3 from deep) and is now shooting 55.1 percent in Big South games this season. That includes
a crisp 50.0 percent in Big South games from long range and 84.6 percent from the charity stripe.
• Cornwall is averaging 11.1 points and shooting 59.6 percent from the floor since returning from an injury on January
27 vs. Longwood. In those eight games since, Cornwall is also shooting 81.8 percent from the free throw line and
54.5 percent from three-point range. He netted a career-high 19 points at Radford (2/1), which topped his 18-point
effort in November at No. 7 Florida.
Gardner-Webb holds a 27-20 edge in the all-time series vs. UNC Asheville, but has won just three meetings against the nearby Bulldogs since joining the Big South Conference in 2008-2009 ... Gardner-Webb dropped a 65-60 decision in Asheville just one month ago, and had a chance to tie in the closing seconds ... The Runnin' Bulldogs knocked off Asheville, 81-76, last February 23 in Paul Porter Arena in front of an ESPNU audience ... Each of the last three meetings has been decided by five points.
