Postgame Interview with D'Maurian Williams
Postgame Interview with Tim Craft

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – D'Maurian Williams sunk a game-winning jumper from the left elbow with 7.1 seconds to play, and Gardner-Webb (17-11, 11-4) escaped in dramatic fashion on Wednesday night with a 60-59 win over UNC Asheville (15-13, 7-8) inside Paul Porter Arena.
 
Asheville had an opportunity to win the game in the ensuing seconds with a basket at the buzzer, but a 3-pointer from L.J. Thorpe hit off the front of the rim while the final horn sounded as the Runnin' Bulldogs stormed towards the student section in celebration after claiming victory in their final home contest of the 2021-22 season.
 
The win boosts Gardner-Webb to 11-4 in league play, marking the fourth time that the 'Dogs have reached the 11-win mark in the Big South. GWU will now have a chance on Saturday to claim its 12^th Big South victory for the first time in program history.
 
In a back-and-forth second half that featured six lead changes and seven ties, Gardner-Webb found itself trailing by two with 52 seconds remaining after Asheville's Drew Pember dunked home an alley-oop off a pinpoint lob from Thorpe. Down by two, 59-57, Pember then fouled Williams on the ensuing possession to send Gardner-Webb to the line for a pair, the first of which went down, while the second rimmed out to return possession to AVL, who clung to a one-point advantage, 59-58.
 
After Williams committed a quick personal foul to send Thorpe back to the charity stripe to shoot a one-and-one, Thorpe missed the front end as GWU's Anthony Selden sailed high for the rebound to allow the Runnin' Bulldogs one final shot. The 'Dogs pushed it down the floor in a hurry and found Williams, who stepped back from his position on the left elbow and connected on the mid-range jumper for the go-ahead and eventual game-winning bucket in front of the home crowd.
 
Lance Terry led all scorers on the night with 19 points, while Zion Williams matched a career-high for the second consecutive outing with 14 points. Both Terry and Zion Williams also snatched a team-high seven rebounds, while Selden ripped down six followed by Kareem Reid with five to go along with four blocks.
 
As for D'Maurian Williams, the game-winner gave the GWU sophomore 12 points on the evening to accompany four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
 
Though each team clamped down on defense to make up for low-output scoring outputs, Gardner-Webb and Asheville each managed to eclipse 40-percent shooting from the field as GWU connected at a 41.3-percent rate (26 of 63), just ahead of AVL's 40.0-percent mark (20 of 50).
 
The win for Gardner-Webb officially clinches a first-round bye for the Runnin' Bulldogs in next week's Big South Championship as either the No. 3 or No. 4 seed. Final seeding will be determined later this week based off results from other remaining Big South contests.
 
Gardner-Webb will look to close out its regular season with a win on Saturday, February 26 as the Runnin' Bulldogs hit the road once more to take on USC Upstate in Spartanburg, S.C. Tipoff of that contest is scheduled for 4 p.m. and will be available on ESPN+ as well as the Runnin' Bulldogs Sports Network.