Cunningham has career-high 21 points, 12 rebounds as UNC-Asheville rallies past Catawba 94-81

UNC-Asheville rallies to beat Catawba 94-81

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — D.J. Cunningham had career highs with 21 points and 12 rebounds and North Carolina-Asheville rallied to defeat Catawba 94-81 on Tuesday night.

John Williams added 19 points on 8-for-10 shooting from the field for the Bulldogs (3-6), who won their third straight game after opening the season 0-6.

Catawba (5-4), a Division II school, rallied from a 14-point first-half deficit to lead 43-42 at the break.

UNC-Asheville, which trailed by as many as six points in the second half, pulled ahead at 56-54 on a Cunningham layup. After the Indians regained a four-point lead, the Bulldogs used a 12-2 run to lead 69-63 with 7:50 left.

UNC-Asheville shot a season-high 58.7 percent (37-for-63) from the field, improving from its previous best of 49.2 percent (32-of-65) in a 100-49 win over Montreat on Sunday.

Dominick Reid led Catawba with 23 points on 9-for-12 shooting.