WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The UNCG men's basketball team put forth its most complete effort of the season and battled Atlantic Coast Conference foe Wake Forest toe-to-toe before the Spartans dropped an 81-71 Tuesday night at the LJVM Coliseum in Winston-Salem. Senior forward Kayel Locke (Baltimore, Md./McDonogh) tied his career-high with 25 points to lead the Spartans in the loss. The loss is the first in a five-game road swing for the Spartans and marks the first of three games in December against an ACC opponent.

“Hats go off to Danny and his bunch tonight as they are a talented team,” head coach Wes Miller said. “I am really proud of my guys tonight. We have had quite of bit of strange things happen in the early part of the season that changed who we are as a team but this group just keeps getting better each day. It has been a tough month or so, but we keep getting better and tonight we really competed. It wasn't perfect, but we really battled and didn't back down tonight against a very good team.”

Locke connected on 10-of-16 from the field, including a career-high four 3-pointers in the loss as he played a season-high 35 minutes. His 25 points is a season-best this year and ties his career-high set as a sophomore against Claflin (12/11/13). Junior guard Diante Baldwin (Greensboro, N.C./High Point Christian) added 14 points and six rebounds in the loss.

“Kayel is a guy that we think can really score in bunches for us and it was good to see his shots fall tonight,” Miller said. “He played with a lot of effort and had at least two hustle plays in the first half that helped set the tone for us tonight. Also, Diante was such a competitor for us tonight and if our team can take on his fight each day, we will continue to improve.”

The Spartans (4-6) connected on 42.9 percent (27-of-63) from the field and hit 7-of-23 (30.4%) from long range on the night. UNCG connected on 83.3 percent (10-of-12) from the free throw line, which help to counter act the Demon Deacons who went to the line 39 times, converting 69.2 percent.

Junior center R.J. White (Frisco, Texas/Frisco) scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds as he was 4-of-9 from the field and hit 3-of-4 from the free throw line. White and Locke combined to help the Spartans out-score the taller Demon Deacons 36-30 in the paint.

Wake Forest (7-2) supplemented its 39 free throw attempts by shooting 48.9 percent (23-of-47) from the field and 40 percent (8-of-20) from long range. Dinos Mitoglou paced three Wake Forest players in double figures with 22 points as he connected on 4-of-6 from 3-point land and hit all eight of his free throws. Devin Thomas posted a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds while Greg McClinton added 11 points.

Wake Forest came out of the gate quickly, opening on a 9-2 run to force UNCG into an early timeout. Thomas was the catalyst in the start, scoring five early points including an old-fashioned 3-point play. The Spartans settled in and answered back with a 10-2 run to take a 12-11 lead. UNCG went to work in the post as Locke scored seven points in the run while White converted a 3-point play in the paint.

The teams traded baskets back-and-forth before Wake Forest posted a 10-2 run to take a 31-22 lead. McClinton converted a 3-point play and Bryant Crawford hit a long rage shot to give the Demon Deacons the nine-point lead with 4:33 left in the half.

UNCG did not succumb to the deficit as it closed the half on a 10-4 run to head into the locker room trailing by only two at 38-36. Freshman Francis Alonso (Malaga, Spain/Cushing Academy) started the run with a 3-pointer before Baldwin scored five straight as the Spartans forced a pair of Wake Forest turnovers. The Spartans kept hustling to the final horn of the first half and that effort pulled them within two as redshirt freshman Lloyd Burgess (Durham, N.C./Christ School) hit a pair of free throws after being fouled on an offensive rebound with 1.6 seconds left in the half.

The Spartans connected on 42.4 percent (14-of-33) from the field in the first half, including four 3-pointers. Locke led seven Spartans scorers in the first half with 10 points while Alonso added six points and three assists. Wake Forest finished the half shooting 48 percent (12-of-25) from the field but hit just 10-of-18 (55.6%) from the free throw line in the opening 20 minutes. Mitoglou led the way with 11 points as he hit three 3-pointers while Thomas finished with eight points as he was 4-of-10 from the charity stripe.

Wake Forest extended its lead to 45-40 early in the second half as McClinton scored off a drive. UNCG responded with five straight points, all by Locke with a 3-pointer and a dunk, to tie the game at 45-45 with 15:59 remaining. Wake Forest looked ready to take control as it responded with 13 straight points to take a 58-45 lead. Thomas started the run for the Demon Deacons with four straight points and Mitoglou capped the spurt with a 3-pointer from the corner.

UNCG showed its heart as it responded with a 10-3 answer to pull within six at 61-55. White gave the Spartans life as he converted an old-fashioned 3-point play and Locke narrowed the gap to six with his fourth 3-pointer of the evening. The Spartans kept battling down the stretch but were unable to get enough stops on defense as Wake Forest scored 14 straight from the free throw line at one point on its way to attempting 21 shots from the charity stripe in the second half.

Baldwin pulled the Spartans within eight at 73-65 with 4:24 remaining but UNCG ran out of gas in the comeback attempt before falling by an 81-71 final score. Alonso finished the night with nine points off the bench to go along with four assists while Kuiper and Burgess each added four points to pace the UNCG reserves.

The Spartans return to action Saturday afternoon as they continue their five-game road swing with a contest against Triad rival Elon. Game time is set for 1 p.m. against the former Southern Conference rivals.

-UNCG-