Men's Basketball 11/15/2007 7:00:00 PM UNCGSpartans.com

Hines helps UNCG pull away in second half for 70-56 win

Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, MO – Kyle Hines led three Spartans in double figures with 19 points and added 11 rebounds as UNC Greensboro pulled away from Texas-Pan American for a 70-56 win in the first game at the 2007 Price Cutter Classic hosted by Missouri State.

An 11-2 run sparked by a thunderous Hines dunk erased a one-point early second half deficit and put the Spartans on their way to a 2-0 mark for just the third time in the last 20 seasons. Hines recorded his 32nd career double-double – the most among active players in Division I.

Mikko Koivisto added 15 points and Kendall Toney chipped in with 10 points for the Spartans. Paul Stoll had 16 points to UTPA (2-1), while Dexter Shankle added 12 points.

“UTPA did a good job of getting us into a half court game in the first half,” said UNCG coach Mike Dement. “They didn't let us get out and run and we were walking it up and not hitting shots. The second half, we did a better job of rebounding and got a few steals and got into some transition and it opened things up a little.”

There was no doubt what UTPA had in mind early on. The first time Kyle Hines touched the basketball on the offensive end of the floor, he was triple-teamed. The 6-6 senior from Sicklerville, NJ still managed to get lose for six points early on as the Spartans opened up a 13-5 lead.

UNCG's offense sputtered in the latter part of the first half as the Spartans missed eight of their last nine from the field to close out the half. The Spartans scored just five points over the final 9:29 of the first half.

After UNCG had a 21-12 lead at the 9:29 mark, UTPA went on an 8-1 spurt. The Broncs closed to within 22-20 on Stoll's three-pointer with just under five minutes left in the first half. The Spartans were still able to hold onto the lead until the closing seconds of the first half. UTPA's Brian Burrell hit a baseline runner with 22 seconds left before the intermission to tie it at 26-26 – a score that held into the break.

Shankle gave UTPA the lead at 30-29 with a jumper, but that last all of about 20 seconds as Hines slammed one home on the other end to give the Spartans the lead again and extend his streak to 52 straight games with 10 or more points. That sparked an 11-2 burst as Dwayne Johnson and Toney followed with treys and UNCG eventually got the lead to 10.

The Broncs never got closer than eight after that as the Spartans coasted to the win in the first-ever meeting between the schools. Dement is now 4-0 against UTPA, having beaten the Broncs three times when he was the coach at SMU.

UNCG returns to action on Saturday when it faces tournament host Missouri State at 9:05 pm ET (8:05 pm local time).

FREE THROWS: UNCG freshman Sam Mason did not make the trip to Springfield. Mason has been hampered by a bad back in preseason practice. Mason, a 6-10 freshman from Raleigh, NC, wasn't expected to be able to play this weekend and the training staff thought he would only aggravate his back more by sitting on a plane. Hence, the decision was made to leave him in Greensboro... Dwayne Johnson left the game with 8:54 to play after a collision at mid-court left him a cut on the left side of his forehead. Groggy from the collision, he did not return and is questionable for Saturday's game... a concern coming in, the Spartans did an outstanding job on Zach Trader, who had a 25 points in UTPA's previous game. Trader, a 6-8 freshman center, shot just 2-of-7 from the floor and finished with six points in 35 minutes of action... with 19 points on Friday night, Hines will enter Saturday's game 12 points from becoming UNCG's all-time scoring leader. Jay Joseph holds the record at 1,646. Hines is now at 1,635.

AGATE

UNCG 70, UT-PAN AMERICAN 56

UNCG (2-0)
Kyle Hines 7-14 5-8 19; Mikko Koivisto 5-10 2-2 15; Kendall Toney 4-5 0-0 10; Ben Stywall 3-5 3-4 9; Daniel Oliver 3-5 0-0 6; Dwayne Johnson 2-6 0-0 5; Kevin Oleksiak 1-4 2-2 5; Landon Clement 0-1 1-2 1; Mike Hardiman 0-0 0-0 0; Michael Mitchell 0-0 0-0 0; Davor Galic 0-1 0-0 0; Darrius Sellers 0-0 0-0 0; Pete Brown 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-51 13-18 70.

UT-PAN AMERICAN (2-1)
Paul Stoll 5-9 2-4 16; Dexter Shankle 3-6 5-7 12; Brian Burrell 3-15 2-5 9; Emmanuel Jones 3-10 2-2 8; Zach Trader 2-7 2-6 6; Nathan Hawkins 1-7 1-2 3; Nick Weiermiller 1-2 0-0 2; Ben Smith 0-2 0-0 0; Danny Puente 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-58 14-26 56.

Halftime: Tied 26-26. 3-point goals--UNCG 7-21 (Mikko Koivisto 3-6; Kendall Toney 2-3; Kevin Oleksiak 1-3; Dwayne Johnson 1-4; Davor Galic 0-1; Landon Clement 0-1; Daniel Oliver 0-2; Kyle Hines 0-1), UT-Pan American 6-21 (Paul Stoll 4-8; Brian Burrell 1-9; Dexter Shankle 1-3; Ben Smith 0-1). Fouled out--UNCG-None, UT-Pan American-None. Rebounds--UNCG 42 (Kyle Hines 11), UT-Pan American 34 (Nathan Hawkins 8). Assists--UNCG 15 (Ben Stywall 4), UT-Pan American 8 (Paul Stoll 4). Total fouls--UNCG 22, UT-Pan American 19. Technical fouls--UNCG-None, UT-Pan American-None. Att: n/a.