High Point, N.C. – The Gardner-Webb men's basketball season game to a heart-breaking end at the Hercules Tires Big South Tournament on Saturday afternoon (3/9).

In a semifinal game that featured 13 ties and 18 lead changes, the No.3 seed Runnin' Bulldogs fell in overtime, 83-72, to defending champion and No.2 seed Asheville inside the Qubein Center on the campus of High Point University.

Gardner-Webb ends its season with an overall record of 17-16.

The Dawgs were 11-5 in Big South Conference play during the regular-season, setting a new conference record of 10 seasons of 10-plus Big South wins under head coach Tim Craft.

"It's always hard when it's over," said Craft, whose team was playing in the conference tournament semifinals for the seventh time in his 11 seasons in Boiling Springs. "I thought it was a great college basketball game. Two teams were trying to fight to keep their season alive and it was a great, competitive basketball game. I'm proud of our team for the season we had. We've been together since last June and our guys have worked and sacrificed. They bought in to the things we were trying to do and really bought into each other (as teammates). You hate to see it end, but it's been special to see the kinds of relationships inside of our locker room. These guys truly care about one another. They're devastated to have it (season) end and not have another opportunity to be around each other for another day as a team. That's what makes this difficult for us coaches and the players, but I'm proud of our season. I just wish from my perspective, a coaching staff perspective, that we could have done a better job here today putting these guys in a better position (to win the game)."

Gardner-Webb played the game on Saturday without graduate senior guard Lucas Steiber, who suffered an ankle injury in its quarterfinal win against Presbyterian on Friday.

Steiber is the team's best three-point shooter in conference play as he was hitting over 50% of his triples 31-61 (.508%) coming into the tournament. In the final six games of the regular-season the Dawgs sharp-shooter connected on 59% (20-34) from behind the three-point arc.

Steiber was also an effective defender for the Runnin' Bulldogs. He often helped out guarding Asheville's two-time Conference Player of the Year Drew Pember, who recorded a triple-double for the Bulldogs on Saturday with a game-high 30 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists.

For Gardner-Webb redshirt freshman guard Shahar Lazar came off the bench and scored a team and career-high 18 points, including 3 of 5 from behind the three-point line.

Senior guard Quest Aldridge, who hit the game-winning one-and-one from the free throw line in the quarterfinals, finished his Runnin' Bulldog career with nine points and six rebounds.

Junior guard Julian Soumaoro tallied eight points and grabbed seven boards for the Dawgs while senior guard Caleb Robinson also netted eight points.

Gardner-Webb, which led 34-31 at halftime, outrebounded Asheville 45-33 and outscored the Bulldogs 36-28 in the paint.

Tied at 71-71 with 13.1 seconds left, Gardner-Webb could not convert on the final possession of regulation as Aldridge's runner in the lane hit the front of the rim, sending the game into overtime.

Asheville then outscored the Runnin' Bulldogs in the five-minute overtime, 12-1.