CULLOWHEE, NC Junior forward Kyle Hines set the UNC Greensboro career record with his 28th career double-double, but Western Carolina rallied from a 12-point second half deficit to defeat the Spartans 57-54 in men's basketball action Saturday afternoon at the Ramsey Center.
Kendall Toney led the Spartans with 15 points. Hines, an All-American candidate, had his seventh double-double this season with 13 points and 12 rebounds. It was also his 35th straight game scoring in double figures, extending his school record.
The Spartans (6-8, 3-2) were hampered by foul trouble all day long as four players finished with four fouls.
Western Carolina (6-9, 3-1) snapped a five-game losing skid. The Catamounts were led by Nick Aldridge's 15 points and 14 points by Antonio Russell.
“We've done this a couple of times this year,” said UNCG coach Mike Dement. “We play 32 minutes very well and then don't finish. We've had 10 point leads a couple of times and lost. We've got to turn that around.”
Behind seven early points by Dwayne Johnson, the Spartans opened up a 14-8 lead midway through the first half. But Johnson, a junior from Queens, NY, was sidelined with 9:31 left in the half with his second personal foul. To compound matters, Hines, the Spartans' leading scorer and rebounder, picked up two quick fouls shortly thereafter and headed to the bench and the frontcourt alternatives of freshman Pete Brown and junior Matt Akinosho picked up their second fouls shortly after that. In fact, Akinosho was whistled for a third and fourth foul in the closing minutes of the first half and had to go to the bench.
That helped the Catamounts stay within striking distance throughout the first half, although UNCG led for the last 15 minutes of the half. Despite all the foul trouble, however, UNCG took a 24-20 lead to the locker room.
After Western Carolina scored the first points of the second half, UNCG went out on a 10-0 run, establishing Hines down low quickly. The junior from Sicklerville, NJ scored five of the 10 points in the run as the Spartans took the first double-digit lead of the day, 34-22, with just under 15 minutes to play.
But the Catamounts slowly climbed back in it as UNCG recorded just two field goals in an eight-minute span. Western pulled back to within five before a three-pointer by the Catamounts' Jake Robinson cut the deficit to two, 44-42, with 6:42 to play. Kyle Greathouse then gave Western the lead with a three-pointer off a steal with 5:14 to play, 48-47.
Hines extended his streak when he scored with five minutes to play to give the Spartans the lead once again, 49-48, but picked up his fourth foul on the ensuing possession.
The lead sea-sawed back and forth from that point. Hines gave UNCG a 54-53 lead with 1:43 to play with a move in the low post. On the next possession, Western Carolina's Antonio Russell was fouled driving to the basket. He converted both free throws to give Western the lead with 1:26 to go.
After Stywall missed a three-pointer and Western grabbed the rebound, Hines blocked a shot with 44 seconds to play in the low post to give the Spartans a chance with a seven second difference on the clock.s. The Spartans had two shots at it, a miss by Hickman and a putback attempt by Hines, but neither would go down and the ball went out of bounds with 8.2 seconds to play.
Greathouse hit two free throws with 6.5 seconds left to give Western Carolina a three-point lead.
Western had a foul to give on the in-bounds and used it at midcourt. After the ball was inbounded again, Ricky Hickman got a look at a long three-pointer, but it was off the mark and the Spartans had lost their second in a row.
UNCG will look to bounce back when it visits Elon on Monday at 7 pm.
AGATE
WESTERN CAROLINA 57, UNC GREENSBORO 54
UNC GREENSBORO (6-8, 3-2) - TONEY, Kendall 6-14 0-0 15; HINES, Kyle 6-11 1-5 13; STYWALL, Ben 3-7 2-2 9; JOHNSON, Dwayne 2-2 2-2 7; HICKMAN, Ricky 2-16 2-4 6; OLEKSIAK, Kevin 1-1 0-0 2; BROWN, Pete 0-1 2-2 2; AKINOSHO, Matt 0-0 0-0 0; TOOMS, Bart 0-0 0-0
0; KOIVISTO, Mikko 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 20-56 9-15 54.
WESTERN CAROLINA (6-9, 3-1) - ALDRIDGE, Nick 5-12 5-8 15; RUSSELL, Antonio 5-10 3-5 14; GORE, Arnold 3-12 4-6 10; ROBINSON, Jake 3-6 0-0 8; GREATHOUSE, Kyle 1-7 2-3 5; GILES, Brandon 1-3 0-0 2; McKENNA, Negus 1-2 0-0 2; WAGINGER, Brigham 0-1 1-2 1; WILSON, Eric 0-1 0-1 0. Totals 19-54 15-25 57.
Halftime: UNCG 24-20. 3-point goals--UNC Greensboro 5-25 (TONEY, Kendall 3-9; STYWALL, Ben 1-3; JOHNSON, Dwayne 1-1; KOIVISTO, Mikko 0-3; HICKMAN, Ricky 0-9), Western Carolina 4-20 (ROBINSON, Jake 2-4; RUSSELL, Antonio 1-6; GREATHOUSE, Kyle 1-5; McKENNA, Negus 0-1; GILES, Brandon 0-1; GORE, Arnold 0-1; ALDRIDGE, Nick 0-2). Fouled out--UNC Greensboro-None, Western Carolina-None. Rebounds--UNC Greensboro 43 (HINES, Kyle 12), Western Carolina 38 (GORE, Arnold 9). Assists--UNC Greensboro 6 (JOHNSON, Dwayne 3), Western Carolina 10 (ALDRIDGE, Nick 3; GREATHOUSE, Kyle 3; GORE, Arnold 3). Total fouls-UNC Greensboro 24, Western Carolina 15. Technical fouls--UNC Greensboro-None, Western Carolina-None. A-2647
SIDELINES: Entering the game on Saturday, the player that leads UNCG in scoring for the game has scored 20 or more points in each of the last six games... a total of 22 fouls were whistled in the first half of Saturday's game, 13 on the Spartans, leaving five UNCG players with two or more fouls at the break.
- UNCG -
