High Point, N.C.  – Survive and Advance!

Friday night at the Qubein Center on the campus of High Point University, the Gardner-Webb men's basketball did just that as senior guard Quest Aldridge hit both ends of a one-and-one with 3.8 seconds remaining to rally the No. 3 seed Runnin' Bulldogs past No. 6 Presbyterian, 61-60, in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Big South Basketball Tournament.

Gardner-Webb, which came back from 12-points down in the second-half, advances to play No.2 seed Asheville in the semi-finals Saturday afternoon at approximately 2:30PM.

It marks the seventh time in head coach Tim Crafts's 11 seasons that Gardner-Webb has advanced to the Final Four of the Conference Tournament.

The win was the 'Dawgs fourth straight victory and improves their record to 17-15.

"The past four games seem like they have all been the same," said an elated Craft, who is looking to guide the 'Dawgs to Championship Sunday for the second time in program history and first since they won it all in 2019. "A lot of grit, a lot of toughness down the stretch with guys making big shots. This was just another great win."

The Blue Hose, aided by an 11-0 run during the closing 1:16 of the first half, took a 34-27 lead and momentum into the locker room at halftime.

In addition to the halftime adjustments, the Runnin' Bulldogs also had to regroup following an ankle injury to graduate senior Lucas Stieber, who did not return for the remainder of the game. Stieber, who is the leading three-point shooter on the team, was injured in the closing minutes of the first half.

"We know Lucas is such a big part of our team," said Aldrige about his teammate. "But we have guys that can come in and do the job to pick up the slack. We're knew we were going to miss him a lot because he's a leader for our team both on and off the court. He's a big talker. We were going to miss him, but we wanted to go out and win the game for him."

Aldridge, who has now scored in double figures in 10 of the past 12 contests for Gardner-Webb, scored 14 points on the night, including 2-4 from three-point range.

Senior guard DQ Nicholas tallied a team-high 15 points, including 3 of 5 from behind the three-point arch. The Dawgs point guard also grabbed seven rebounds.

Classmate Caleb Robinson led the Runnin' Bulldogs on the glass with a game-high 10 boards.

Gardner-Webb shot 48.1% (22-51) for the game and 50% (8-16) from deep.

Free throw shooting, which did the Runnin' Bulldogs in down the stretch in their February loss to the Blue Hose in Clinton, was a little better as they shot 60% (9-15) from the charity stripe, including Aldridge's huge one-and-one conversion at the end of the game.

Presbyterian ends its season at 14-18.

Senior guard Trevon Reddish-Rhone scored a game-high 18 points for the Blue Hose. Junior guard Samage Teel had 12 points and Kobe Stewart added 11 points. Junior forward Kaleb Scott chipped in nine points and pulled down nine rebounds.

The Blue Hose, who shot 39.3% (24-61) for the game and 5-17 (29.4%) from behind the arch.

Presbyterian outscored Gardner-Webb 28-26 in the paint. The Blue Hose held a 37-33 advantage on the glass.

UP NEXT:  Gardner Webb will look to defeat Asheville for the third time this season tomorrow (Saturday 3/9) at approximately 2:30 PM.

Gardner-Webb came back to beat the Bulldogs 78-77 last Saturday (3/2) in at Kimmel Arena. The Runnin' Bulldogs also won the first meeting at home, 80-73, back on Jan. 31^st and recorded a sweep of the season series for the first time since 2021-22.