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If you haven't seen Andrew Rowsey play then you're doing yourself a bit of a disservice. Rowsey averaged over 20 points per game last year and was the second highest scoring freshman in the country. He certainly picked up where he left off in the Bulldogs opening night to Wake Forest where he dropped 26 points on the Demon Deacons.
It's not just Rowsey's scoring ability that makes him fun to watch it's his attitude. Rowsey is already the most polarizing player in the league because he loves to talk and loves to let people know he's good. For Big South fans he'll bring back flashes of Anthony Raffa. For national fans he'll remind you a little of Marshall Henderson. Just to be clear though that Rowsey doesn't come with the off the court baggage when it comes to the comparison.
Rowsey's scoring and "swagger" was again on full display Sunday when Asheville traveled to East Carolina. The Bulldogs relatively cruised to a big road one against an in-state rival from the American Athletic Conference but they had to withstand two pretty strong runs from the Pirates.
With 16:41 to play Rowsey put UNCA up 47-33 but got a little testy in letting ECU know that he could score at will and was issued a technical. The post technical aftermath saw ECU go on a 7-0 run to cut the lead just to seven . ECU would eventually cut the lead to the smallest margin of four with just under 30 seconds left, but a solid showing from the free throw line allowed UNCA to grab a big win 83-79.
UNCA was 28-for-34 from the charity stripe lead by Rowsey with a 15-for-16 performance. Rowsey finished the game with 28 points and 3 assists.
One of the questions early this season for UNC Asheville is who was going to step up for the injured Will Weeks, who is out likely until conference play due to injury. Today it was 6'6 freshman Kem Ubaru who finished with 17 points and 9 rebounds.
Caleb White lead the way for ECU with 24 points, following up a 14 point performance against North Carolina Wesleyan Friday night.
Asheville will now head home for the first time this season to take on non-Division I Johnson & Wales. UNCA will then head to East Tennessee State on Saturday for a great mid-major battle.