Box Score

Greensboro, NC - In a battle of crosstown rivals, the UNC Greensboro men's basketball team rolled past Greensboro College, 69-41, Saturday night in Fleming Gymnasium in the 2003-04 home opener. Senior Jay Joseph paced UNCG with a game-high 23 points, as the Spartans improved to 2-1 on the season. The Pride slip to 0-4 on the season.

"I thought Greensboro College came out and played with great emotion and intensity tonight," UNCG head coach Fran McCaffery said. "Our offensive execution wasn't as good as we'd like, but I felt that our senior leadership came through for us and made sure we got the victory tonight.

In the second half, UNCG used the inside-out attack of Joseph and Ronnie Burrell to hold off the hot shooting of Greensboro College's Trey Williams who connected on two 3-pointers in the early stages of the period. A layup by Ronnie Taylor gave the Spartans their first 20-point advantage of the contest, 45-24, at the 12:54 mark. From that point, UNCG closed the game on a 24-17 run to seal the victory.

The Spartans opened the game with a three-quarter court trapping defense which forced Greensboro College (0-4) into numerous turnovers. Using that pressure defense UNCG raced out to a 15-3 advantage highlighted by three Jay Joseph 3-pointers, while holding The Pride without a field goal until the 13:31 mark of the first half. Back-to-back field goals from Jason Williams and Edward Montrell ended the Spartan run and pulled Greensboro College to within seven, 15-8. The Spartans would close the half an 18-8 run capped off by an emphatic one hand slam from Sean McCarthy and a jump shot from Joseph in taking a 33-16 lead into halftime.

For the game, the Spartans out shot Greensboro College 40.6% (26-64) to 25.9% (14-54).

Joseph led all scorers with 14 points in the opening 20-minutes on 5-of-10 shooting from the field, including 4-of-6 shooting from the 3-point arc. The Spartans shot 38.7% (12-31) from the floor and 55.6% from the 3-point line, while holding the Pride to just 22.2% shooting. Greensboro College outrebounded the Spartans 22-20, but were forced into 15 turnovers.

Ronnie Taylor was the only other Spartan to reach double-figures this evening, as he finished with 11 points, six assists and five rebounds. Freshman Jelani Lawrence showed great promise tonight with nine points, five rebounds and three blocked shots. Junior Sean McCarthy finished with four points, on two electrifying dunks, and eight rebounds. The Spartans defense pressured the Pride into 27 turnovers on the evening.

Trey Williams led the Greensboro College attack with 11 points, while Edward Montrell recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. As a team, the Pride outrebounded UNCG, 44-40.

UNCG will return to action again Wednesday, December 3, against Southern Conference rival Furman. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 pm in Fleming Gymnasium. Greensboro College will square off against Guilford College, Monday, December 1, in the Greensboro Coliseum at 7 pm.