GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG men's basketball team didn't wilt under the full court pressure of VMI Wednesday night as the Spartans closed the game on an 11-3 run taking home a 75-63 victory over the visiting Keydets. The game marked the first meeting against VMI since 2003 as the Keydets returned to the Southern Conference this season and gave UNCG its eighth win in the last nine meetings against the league newcomer.

“I feel really good for our kids,” head coach Wes Miller said. “We have made a lot of effort to do it right and do it like we do in practice. Not everything went right for us on every possession, but I was proud of our guys for battling through the low points and it was nice to get the result tonight. Hopefully, this is something we can build on going forward.”

Junior forward Kayel Locke (Baltimore, Md./McDonogh) led a balanced UNCG scoring attack with a game-high 19 points while grabbing eight rebounds. His play helped the Spartans out-score the Keydets 34-22 in the paint and win the rebounding battle by a 53-40 margin. Redshirt sophomore center R.J. White (Frisco, Texas/Frisco) aided the win on the glass with a career-high 14 rebounds while adding nine rebounds, just missing his seventh double-double of the season.

Senior Nicholas Paulos (Salt Lake City, Utah/New Hampton School) gave the Spartans a lift on the perimeter as he finished with 16 points and a career-high three blocked shots. Sophomore guard Diante Baldwin (Greensboro, N.C./High Point Christian) added 10 points and eight rebounds while classmate Jordy Kuiper (Groningen, Netherlands/Canaries Basketball Academy) added eight points and seven rebounds off the bench.

The Spartans played the game without the services of sophomore guard and leading scorer Tevon Saddler (Aberdeen, Md./St. Frances Academy) who is out indefinitely with a knee injury suffered at Furman.

UNCG finished the night shooting 45.2 percent (28-of-62) from the field and hit 33.3 percent (6-of-18) from long range in the victory. The Spartans' defense came up big as VMI entered the game as the league's highest scoring offense at 84.1 points per game and UNCG held it to just 63. Additionally, the Keydets lead NCAA Division I in 3-point field goals made and attempted but the Spartans held them to 22.5 percent (9-of-40) from long range.

Phillip Anglade posted a double-double for the Keydets in the loss as he scored 11 points with 10 rebounds. The Spartans did a good job against guard QJ Peterson who entered the game as the second leading scorer in the SoCon. Peterson finished the night with eight points as he was 2-of-11 shooting from the field.

The Spartans came out quickly and opened on an 8-2 run as they were able to hit from the outside early. Sophomore guard Clay Byrd (Connelly Springs, N.C./East Burke) and Paulos each hit their first 3-pointers. UNCG kept the momentum going, running out to a 24-13 lead with just over 12 minutes played as Locke started to go to work offensively on his way to an 11-point first half effort.

VMI used its pressure defense and long range shooting to narrow the gap to 38-32 at the halftime break. The Keydets forced the Spartans into 12 turnovers in the first half while attempting 21 3-pointers, connecting on 28.6 percent (6-of-21). The Spartans on the other hand connected on 48.4 percent (15-of-31) from the field and 44.4 percent (4-of-9) from long range in the opening half. UNCG also held a 25-22 edge on the glass but allowed 10 offensive rebounds to VMI.

Joining Locke with 11 points in the first half was Paulos who connected on 4-of-6 from the field, including a pair of 3-pointers. Tim Marshall and Phillip Anglade led the Keydets with eight points each while Brian Brown chipped in six points.

VMI came out of the break and quickly went to work with the full court pressure, scoring the first five points of the half to force UNCG into a timeout. Peterson tried to get going early as he converted an old-fashioned 3-point play to open the half while Trey Chapman hit a jump shot.

The Keydets kept coming and took their only lead of the game at the 13:16 mark, leading 46-45 as they scored five straight. Anglade gave VMI the lead by hitting a free throw but he missed the second and Paulos came down on the other end and hit a jumper to give UNCG back the lead. The Spartans were able to build that lead back up to six at 53-47 as they crashed the offensive glass getting second chance opportunities as junior Ben Dickinson (Alexandria, Va./Loyola Marymount) hit a pair of free throws and Locke had a tip-in off a missed shot.

VMI would not go away as the Keydets narrowed the gap to one again at 53-52 before Paulos hit a big 3-pointer to make it a two-possession game. The Keydets pulled within four at 64-60 with 4:12 remaining but that was as close as they would get as UNCG closed the game on an 11-3 run to secure the victory. Walk-on guard Asad Lamot (Mebane, N.C./Lees-McRae) hit a big shot against the VMI press to extend the lead before White scored four straight in the post and Baldwin sealed the victory at the free throw line.

The Spartans will be off for over a week as they do not play until a pair of road games next week heading to Samford Jan. 22 and Chattanooga Jan. 24.

-UNCG-