GREENVILLE, SC Ricky Hickman didn't start the game on Saturday, but he did finish it.
Hickman, who came off the bench as a change of scenery, finished with a game-high 29 points as UNC Greensboro picked up a big road win in double-overtime at Furman, 91-86, Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena.
A 1,000-point scorer at UNCG, Hickman has struggled with his shooting in the early part of this season. However, the senior from Winston-Salem, NC made 10-of-16 from the field on Saturday as the Spartans earned a much needed conference win.
It was the second time this year that UNCG has brought Hickman off the bench. He scored 16 points off the bench in UNCG's win over Gardner-Webb 18 days earlier.
“That was a good win for us,” said UNCG coach Mike Dement. “Furman beat Vanderbilt earlier this month and will be someone to contend with in our league. We needed for someone to step up with the way people have been locking in on Kyle Hines and we got that from a couple of places today. Ricky made some big plays down the stretch and that really put us over the top.”
Hines scored in double figures for the 30th consecutive game, extending his school record. He finished with 16 points and nine rebounds. Kendall Toney, who started in place of Hickman, had 17 points for UNCG (3-6, 2-1 SoCon).
Eric Webb led Furman with 26 points, while Mousea Diagne added 18 points for the Paladins. (5-4, 0-1 SoCon). Robbie Bostain had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Late in the second ovetime with UNCG leading by three, Dwayne Johnson missed two free throws to keep Furman within striking distance. Eric Webb nailed a three-pointer from the top of the key on the ensuing possession to tie the score, 84-84, with 51 seconds to play.
But Hickman made consecutive plays to put the Spartans over the top. First, he drove the lane and converted a conventional three-point play with 33.5 seconds left to put UNCG back up by three. Then, he stole the ball at midcourt and drove down for the lay-up and an 89-84 lead with 22 seconds to go.
After a basket by Bostain, Hickman knocked down two more free throws with 11 seconds left to put the game away.
It was UNCG's first overtime win since January 2005 and the Spartans first overtime win on the road since December 21, 1999 when it won at Winthrop. It was also the first time in 11 meetings between the two schools that a team won in the other's home city. Including a conference tournament game in Greenville in 2002, the hometown team had won all 10 meetings prior to Saturday.
Toney, making his first collegiate start, sparked UNCG early with four three-pointers in the first 11 minutes of the contest. The freshman from Charlotte, NC scored 12 of UNCG's first 18 points to give UNCG an 18-17 advantage with nine minutes left in the first half.
Neither team held a lead of more than three points until the closing minutes of the first half. UNCG held Furman scoreless for a span of 4:29. That resulted in an 8-0 UNCG run and a 31-24 lead with less than a minute before half.
Furman climbed back in it early in the second half. A tip-in by Stanley Jones tied the score, 37-37, with 15:03 to play. Meanwhile, UNCG went cold, recording just one field goal in a six-minute span. Tony Anderson knocked down a three-pointer with 12:43 to play to give the Paladins the lead again, 43-40, which was on the tail end of a 15-3 run by Furman.
After Furman extended the lead to seven at one point, UNCG rallied to pull within one. Toney hit his first field goal of the second half, his fifth three-pointer of the game, with 2:17 to play to pull UNCG within 63-62. But after Furman called timeout, Webb answered with a trey from the left corner with two minutes to play.
After Hines hit one of two at the line for UNCG, Jones got loose on a pick-and-roll for a dunk to make the lead four with 1:15 to play, 68-64.
After a UNCG timeout, Hickman knocked down a three-pointer from the left wing with 41.4 seconds to play to pull UNCG back to within one, 68-67. Dwayne Johnson fouled Bostain with 19.7 seconds left, but Bostain left the door open when he missed the first of two free throws the only free throw Furman missed all day.
The Spartans called their last timeout to set up the final possession. Mikko Koivisto drove from the top of the key and knocked down a runner from 10 feet away with 5.7 seconds left to set-up overtime.
Webb drove the lane and scored with 19.1 seconds left in the first overtime. Jadee Jones fouled Mikko Koivisto with 17.6 to play, but Koivisto missed the first of two free throws, giving UNCG a 77-75 lead after he made the second.
Bostain drove the lane and was fouled with 9.5 seconds left and proceeded to make both to tie the game. Hickman drove the lane for a leaner but it would not fall and a second overtime was needed.
AGATE
UNC GREENSBORO 91, FURMAN 86
UNC GREENSBORO (3-6, 2-1 SoCon)
HICKMAN, Ricky 10-16 6-7 29; TONEY, Kendall 6-10 0-0 17; HINES, Kyle 6-14 4-8 16; KOIVISTO, Mikko 4-7 3-6 14; STYWALL, Ben 2-6 2-4 7; JOHNSON, Dwayne 2-6 0-2 4; TOOMS, Bart 1-1 0-0 2; AKINOSHO, Matt 1-1 0-2 2; BROWN, Pete 0-0 0-0 0; OLEKSIAK, Kevin 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 32-65 15-29 91.
FURMAN (5-4, 0-1 SoCon)
WEBB, Eric 8-14 4-4 26; DIAGNE, Moussa 7-14 2-2 18; BOSTAIN, Robby 4-13 7-8 15; JONES, Stanley 4-7 2-2 10; ANDERSON, Tony 3-5 0-0 8; PUNCH, Gerad 3-6 0-0 7; OPACIC, Alex 1-3 0-0 2; JONES, Jadee 0-2 0-0 0; BROZOS, George 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 30-66 15-16 86.
Halftime: UNCG 33-27. 3-point goals--UNC Greensboro 12-29 (TONEY, Kendall 5-7; KOIVISTO, Mikko 3-6; HICKMAN, Ricky 3-6; STYWALL, Ben 1-4; OLEKSIAK, Kevin 0-3; JOHNSON, Dwayne 0-3), Furman 11-24 (WEBB, Eric 6-9; DIAGNE, Moussa 2-4; ANDERSON,
Tony 2-3; PUNCH, Gerad 1-1; JONES, Jadee 0-2; BROZOS, George 0-1; OPACIC, Alex 0-1; BOSTAIN, Robby 0-3). Fouled out--UNC Greensboro-None, Furman-WEBB, Eric. Rebounds--UNC Greensboro 40 (HINES, Kyle 9), Furman 35 (BOSTAIN, Robby 11). Assists--UNC Greensboro 14 (JOHNSON, Dwayne 4), Furman 18 (BOSTAIN, Robby 7). Total fouls--UNC Greensboro 18, Furman 25. Technical fouls--UNC Greensboro-None, Furman-None. A-2109
SIDELINES: 13 of Hickman's 29 came in the overtime sessions... Furman shot 3-for-12 from three-point range in the first half, but knocked six from behind the arc in the first 10 minutes of the second half... The game matched up all friends. Jeff Jackson and Mike Dement were assistants together at Cornell in the early 1980's... It was the 21st time in his career that Hickman topped the 20-point mark in a game... Before Saturday's loss, Furman had won 18 in a row when scoring 80 or more points.
- UNCG -
