GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG men's basketball team continues their five-game road swing Saturday afternoon as the Spartans travel to Triad rival Elon for a rare matinee as game time is set for 1 p.m. at Alumni Gym. The game will be broadcast on 1320 WCOG AM and online via the Tune In App with Scott Pryzwansky and Darryl Kosciak providing the call. Additionally, Elon will video stream the game on its site with links available at www.uncgspartans.com
UNCG enters Saturday's game with a 4-6 overall record and is coming off a hard fought 81-71 loss at Atlantic Coast Conference foe Wake Forest. The Spartans are in the midst of a stretch where they play 9 out of 12 games on the road, including the current five-game road stretch. UNCG is 0-4 on the road this year with losses at UCT, at N.C. A&T, at High Point and Tuesday at Wake Forest.
The Spartans have four players averaging double figures this year and six players averaging at least 8.0 points per game. Senior forward Kayel Locke (Baltimore, Md./McDonogh) leads the team in scoring at 12.3 points per game while adding 5.0 rebounds per game. Locke is coming off a 25-point scoring effort against the Demon Deacons where he hit a career-high 4-of-7 from 3-point land.
Freshman guard Francis Alonso (Malaga, Spain/Cushing Academy) is second on the team and first among all freshen in the Southern Conference in scoring at 11.5 points per game. Alonso leads the team with 26 3-pointers, connecting at a 42.6 percent clip. Junior center R.J. White (Frisco, Texas/Frisco) leads the Spartans on the glass grabbing 7.0 rebounds per game. White adds 10.7 points per game as he is shooting 56.3 percent (40-of-71) from the field.
Junior guard Diante Baldwin (Greensboro, N.C./High Point Christian Academy) rounds out the Spartans in double figure scoring at 10.2 points per game. Baldwin leads the team with 44 assists and 21 steals while ranking second at 5.3 rebounds per game. He is one of just two players in the SoCon this season ranked in all four categories – points, rebounds, assists and steals – joining Mike Brown of Western Carolina.
Saturday's game marks the 39th meeting all-time between the former Southern Conference rivals. Elon holds a 25-13 record all-time against the Spartans and UNCG has dropped 11 straight to the Phoenix. The Spartans last defeated Elon January 18, 2010 by a 63-55 score at the Greensboro Coliseum. UNCG last won on Elon's campus January 17, 2009 with an 89-72 victory.
Last season, Elon made the trip down I-40 and picked up a 71-64 victory over the Spartans at the Greensboro Coliseum. The Spartans shot just 33.3 percent (19-of-57) from the field in the loss but connected on 76.7 percent (23-of-30) from the charity stripe. White posted a double-double in the victory with 16 points and 12 rebounds while Locke added 17 points and nine rebounds. Tanner Sampson led Elon with 21 points on the strength of 9-of-11 shooting from the free throw line while Elijah Bryan chipped in 20 points off the bench.
Elon enters Saturday's game riding a four-game winning streak and bringing a 7-3 overall record into the contest. The Phoenix is also 5-1 at home this season at Alumni Gym. Elon has picked up wins this year over Charlotte, Belmont Abbey, Kennesaw State, Florida International, Wesley College and most recently Alabama State. The Phoenix has dropped games at Michigan, at Syracuse and at home to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Elon is averaging 82.9 points per game while hitting 11.1 3-pointers per game, shooting at a 35.2 percent clip. Tanner Samson leads the Phoenix in scoring at 16.3 points per game. Samson has hit a team-high 36 3-pointers, connecting on 41.9 percent from long range. Dainan Swoope is second on the team in scoring at 12.2 points per game, despite coming off the bench in all 10 games. Swoope has hit 27-of-69 (39.1%) from long range as four different players have posted at least 14 made 3-pointers.
Luke Eddy rounds out the Phoenix in double figures scoring at 10.3 points per game. Eddy also leads the team with 57 assists while only posting 29 turnovers. Christian Hairston leads Elon on the glass, grabbing 5.8 rebounds while Dmitri Thompson is second at 5.7 rebound per game.
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