UNCG-Appalachian St. Box Score
Box Score
Ricky Hickman led UNCG with 24 points |
GREENSBORO, NC – UNC Greensboro shot 62% from the floor and had four players score in double-figures as the Spartans kept their hopes alive for a possible first round bye in the conference tournament with a 92-73 win over Appalachian State in Southern Conference men's basketball action in front of a standing-room only crowd of 2,202 at Fleming Gymnasium.
The Spartans (14-11, 7-7) recorded their best field goal percentage since November 19, 2002, hitting on 10 of their first 14 field goal attempts and not looking back. Junior guard Ricky Hickman led all scorers with 24 points to pace UNCG. Freshman forward Kyle Hines had 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the floor and added eight rebounds. Ray Bristow and Ronnie Burrell each added 19 points for the Spartans, who snapped a five-game losing streak.
Clint Deas, a senior from Garner, NC who entered the game averaging 3.5 ppg this season, had a career-high 22 points and 11 rebounds for Appalachian State (15-10, 8-6). Prior to Saturday, Deas' career-high was 14 points, which came earlier this month against The Citadel.
The Mountaineers also had four players scoring in double-figures as D.J. Thompson added 13 points, Herbert Jones had 12 points and Noah Brown added 11 points.
By virture of its win, UNCG has locked up the tie-breakers atop the North Division of the SoCon. UNCG swept the season series with Appalachian State and split with Chattanooga, which leads the North Division with a 9-5 mark in conference play. Chattanooga and Appalachian State split their regular season meetings. UNCG trails Appalachian State by one game and Chattanooga by two games with two games to play. The top two teams in each division receive byes in the first round of the SoCon Tournament.
“I felt like tonight was our best effort of the season in terms of a full 40 minutes,” said UNCG coach Fran McCaffery. “We only had 13 turnovers and we executed very well. We've played too much in spurts lately during this losing streak and we got away from that tonight. We didn't rebound as well as we could, but beyond that, I thought we played a near-perfect game.”
“You have to give them credit,” said Appalachian State coach Houston Fancher. “They played with a higher level of intensity than we did tonight. They played like a team that had their backs to the wall. They came out and shot the ball well and they executed.”
The game was played at a fevered-pace all night long. Despite UNCG's hot shooting early in the game, the Spartans found themselves trailing, 30-26, with 6:25 left in the first half after Demetrius Scott knocked down a three-pointer. However, a block by Hines, the leading shot-blocker in the SoCon and No. 3 in the nation, on a dunk attempt by Deas shifted the Spartans into another gear.
UNCG went on an 11-0 run over the next three minutes to take a lead that it would not surrender. A lay-up by Burrell started the run before Josh Gross scored five straight with a pair of free throws and a three-pointer off a feed by Bristow. Gross stole the ball on Appalachian State's next possession, setting-up Hickman for a breakaway layp-up and a five-point lead. Burrell closed the run with a jumper at 3:07 to give UNCG a 37-30 lead.
The teams opened the second-half in a see-saw battle. With the Mountaineers trailing by four with 12:49 to play, UNCG went on a 15-3 run to put the game out of reach. Bristow sparked the run with a three-pointer from the left corner and Hickman had six of the 15 points during the run as UNCG opened up a 68-52 lead.
Appalachian State closed to within 10 with 1:50 to play, 81-71, on a three-pointer by Nathan Cranford. But UNCG knocked down 11-of-12 from the free throw line, including 10 in a row to end the game, during the final 92 seconds.
UNCG is a perfect 11-0 when leading at the half this season and had its first halftime lead Saturday night in nine games dating back to January 15.
UNCG hosts Elon on Tuesday night at 7 pm. Appalachian State hosts Western Carolina on Tuesday night at 7 pm.
AGATE
APPALACHIAN STATE (15-10, 8-6 SoCon)
Deas, 11-15 0-0 22; Thompson, 5-12 1-2 13; Jones, 6-9 0-0 12; Brown, 3-11 3-3 11; Cranford, 1-7 4-5 7; Scott, 1-7 0-0 3; McLaughlin-Williams 1-3 0-0 3; Thomas, 1-4 0-0 2; Clayton, 0-0 0-0 0; Davis, 0-6 0-0 0. Totals 29-74 8-10 73.
UNC GREENSBORO (14-11, 7-7 SoCon)
Hickman, 7-10 9-11 24; Hines, 9-10 3-5 21; Burrell, 6-10 7-8 19; Bristow, 6-12 4-4 19; Gross, 2-4 2-2 7; Johnson, 1-3 0-1 2; Everette, 0-0 0-0 0; Oleksiak, 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 31-50 25-31 92.
Halftime: UNCG, 43-37. 3-point goals-Appalachian State 7-31 (Thompson, 2-7; Brown, 2-6; Scott, 1-5; McLaughlin-Williams 1-3; Cranford, 1-6; Davis, 0-4), UNC Greensboro 5-14 (Bristow, 3-7; Gross, 1-3; Hickman, 1-2; Johnson, 0-1; Oleksiak, 0-1). Fouled out--Appalachian State-Thompson, Jones, UNC Greensboro-None. Rebounds-Appalachian State 35 (Deas, 11), UNC Greensboro 35 (Hines, 8). Assists-Appalachian State 10 (Davis, 4), UNC Greensboro 16 (Bristow, 5). Total fouls-Appalachian State 23, UNC Greensboro 14. Att: 2202 (sellout)
