ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Omar Collington scored 19 points and Michel Ellis and Joseph Barber each added 18 points as UNC Asheville rallied past VMI Saturday afternoon, 83-65 at the Justice Center in Asheville, N.C.

VMI dropped its second straight game and fell to 7-10 overall, 2-4 in the Big South.

UNCA snapped a four-game skid and moved to 4-12, 2-4 in BSC play.

The Keydets (7-10, 2-4 BSC) were led by Reggie Williams with 15 points and 12 rebounds. It was the sophomore forward's sixth double-double of his career. Matt Murrer added 14 points and seven rebounds, while Travis Holmes came off the bench to score 10 points.

Asheville rallied from an 11-point first half deficit to record its first victory of the season when trailing at halftime. The Bulldogs outscored the Keydets 46-25 in the second half.

"We played very well in the second half," commented Asheville coach Eddie Biedenbach. "VMI is much improved from last year and has some very talented players. We were fortunate to be only down three at halftime (40-37) and then played well on both ends of the floor in the second half. This is a big win for us against a good team. We need to build on this game."

VMI hit five straight three-pointers in the first half and went on a 12-2 run to grab a 30-19 lead with six minutes to go in the half. The Bulldogs made a nice run to end the half as Collington scored on a lay-up as the buzzer sounded to get Asheville within 40-37 at halftime.

The Bulldogs came out of the gates storming in the second half as they went on a 10-2 run to take the lead for good at 49-42. Asheville got points from five different players during the run.

Leading 57-53 with 10:19 left, the Bulldogs went on a 7-0 run over the next two minutes to sprint to a 64-53 lead. Collington began the run with a dunk off an in-bounds play, followed by a Barber trey and two free throws from Ellis.

Asheville led 70-60 at the five-minute mark but sealed the game with eight straight points, once again getting buckets from four different players as Ellis hit two more free throws for a 78-60 lead. The Bulldogs were 13-of-15 from the free throw line in the second half for 87 percent and shot 50 percent (15-of-30) from the field.

Asheville's defense limited VMI to just 26 percent (9-of-35) shooting in the second half and just 1-of-12 shooting from beyond the arc. The Bulldogs also forced 20 Keydet turnovers. Oliver Homes led the Asheville defense with five steals.

The Keydets were coached by assistant coach Daniel Willis who was filling in for head coach Duggar Baucom, who is recuperating from surgery two weeks ago.

"We had some good looks at the basket, but some shots didn't fall," said Willis. "There were some uncharacteristic shooting numbers out there with Matt Murrer and Reggie Williams, both from the field and the line."

VMI dressed just 10 players and played with just one post player on the roster as senior center Tadas Mankevicus missed his fifth straight game with a foot injury and senior power forward Preston Beverly missed the game for personal matters.

VMI continues its three-game road trip at Radford on Thursday night starting at 7 p.m.

The Bulldogs will play this Wednesday night at Justice Center when they host Big South Conference rival starting at 7 p.m.