GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG men's basketball team rallied from a 12-point first half deficit to force overtime but the Spartans suffered their second straight Southern Conference loss at home falling 85-83 to The Citadel Monday night at the Greensboro Coliseum. UNCG out-scored the Bulldogs 52-45 in the second half but allowed The Citadel to lead by as many as five in the extra session before having an opportunity for a potential game-winning shot on the final possession.

“This one really hurts and I hurt for my kids,” head coach Wes Miller said. “We are pushing them really hard in practice and they are trying to do it the right way. We carried the tough mentality over from practice to the game today and that is what we were looking for. Certainly, there are many stretches where we made mistakes or didn't play the right way, but I thought the effort was there tonight to play the right way as a team. I am just disappointed that our effort wasn't able to translate into a win tonight.”

UNCG (5-11, 1-2 SoCon) finished the game shooting 50 percent (31-of-62) from the field but hit just 35.7 percent (35.3%) from 3-point land. The Spartans were limited to just 25 first half points when they shot 30.8 percent (8-of-26) from the field compared to 67.7 percent (21-of-31) shooting in the second half when they scored 52 points. The Citadel (6-8, 1-2 SoCon) conversely connected on 53.1 percent (26-of-49) from the field and hit 55.6 percent (10-of-18) from long range in the victory while also going 23-of-27 (85.2%) from the free throw line.

Sophomore guard Tevon Saddler (Aberdeen, Md./St. Frances Academy) led four Spartans in double figures in the loss, scoring a team-high 23 points while grabbing four rebounds, dishing out five assists and notching a pair of steals. Saddler connected on 10-of-19 from the field and 3-of-4 from the free throw line as he scored 17 of his points after halftime.

Redshirt sophomore center R.J. White (Frisco, Texas/Frisco) was dominant in the paint for 25 minutes before fouling out. White fell just short of a double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds as he was 6-of-10 from the field and 5-of-7 from the free throw line. Senior guard Nicholas Paulos (Salt Lake City, Utah/New Hampton School) added 12 points as he was 4-of-7 from 3-point land while junior forward Kayel Locke (Baltimore, Md./McDonogh) chipped in 13 points, including 7-of-10 from the free throw line.

Ashton Moore led The Citadel with 28 points in 43 minutes of action. Moore finished the night 9-of-13 from the field and was a perfect 7-of-7 from the charity stripe, including the game-tying free throws with just over a minute remaining in regulation to force overtime. P.J Horgan added 18 points while Marshall Harris and Jake Wright each chipped in 12 points.

The Spartans started quickly against the Bulldogs, scoring the first seven points of the game and opening on an 11-5 run. Paulos got things going with an early 3-pointer and hit another long range shot in the first five minutes.

The Citadel answered back with a 22-4 run to take a 27-15 lead as the Bulldogs did their damage from the outside. The Citadel finished the first half shooting 5-of-8 (62.5%) from 3-point land and hit all seven of its free throws in the half. The Spartans were able to close within seven at the break at 32-25 as they connected on just 30.8 percent (8-of-26) from the field and only 3-of-10 (30%) from long range.

Paulos led all scorers with nine points on 3-of-4 shooting from distance while Saddler chipped in six points but was 3-of-8 from the field. Marshall Harris led The Citadel with nine points off the bench and four assists while Ashton Moore chipped in seven points and five rebounds.

The Spartans came out of the locker room and opened on an 11-2 run to take a 36-34 lead. White started things off by scoring on the first two possessions in the paint before Paulos nailed a 3-pointer. Saddler tied the game and gave UNCG the lead with baskets on back-to-back possessions.

The Citadel came back and posted a 9-4 run to take a five-point lead at 45-40. The Spartans kept battling back but each time they made a run, the Bulldogs were there with an answer until The Citadel held a 73-67 lead with 2:57 remaining in the second half.

Saddler gave the Spartans life as he came down and converted an old-fashioned 3-point play to narrow the gap to 73-70. The Spartans' defense came up with a stop as White made a diving steals on an entry pass, which sprung sophomore guard Diante Baldwin (Greensboro, N.C./High Point Christian) on the break for a basket to make it 73-72.

After a pair of free throws by Horgan extended The Citadel lead to three, sophomore guard Clay Byrd (Connelly Springs, N.C./East Burke) drained a game-tying 3-pointer with 1:26 left to knot the game at 75-75. The Spartans got a big stop on the defensive end as Byrd notched a block on Wright's shot giving the Spartans the ball.

Saddler drove down the lane and scored with 18.9 seconds left to give the Spartans a 77-75 lead. UNCG had another stop on the defensive end as Quinton Marshall missed a 3-pointer but got his own rebound. Paulos blocked Marshall's jump shot but the rebound squirted out of bounds off of the Spartans. On the inbounds pass, the Bulldogs got the ball in Moore's hands and a late foul was called with just over two seconds remaining after he missed his pull up jumper. Moore calmly hit both of his free throws to tie the game and send it into overtime.

Locke gave the Spartans the first lead of the overtime period but The Citadel posted an 8-1 run to take an 85-80 lead with 1:05 left. Moore scored five points in the run, including a 3-pointer, while Horgan converted a 3-point play.

The Spartans kept battling and Locke converted a 3-point play of his own to make it an 85-83 game with 48 seconds remaining. The Citadel held the ball and got a long 3-point attempt off as the shot clock expired by Wright but it bounced out giving UNCG one final shot. Baldwin pushed the ball up to Saddler who drove and kicked the ball out on the perimeter but the Spartans were unable to get a shot off before the buzzer allowing The Citadel to escape with the 85-83 victory.

Baldwin finished the game with six points and three assists as he was 3-of-9 from the field. Byrd added six points off the bench as he hit 2-of-5 from distance, including his last two attempts.

The Spartans return to action Thursday night as they begin a two-game road swing with a SoCon game at Furman. Game time in Greenville is set for 7 p.m. and will be aired on the SoCon Digital Network.

-UNCG-