Box Score GREENSBORO, N.C. – UNCG men's basketball senior guard Nicholas Paulos (Salt Lake City, Utah/New Hampton School) became the 21st member of the 1,000-point club at UNCG Thursday night and the second to reach the mark this season as the Spartans used a 22-4 run in the second half to pull away from Samford 81-67 in a pivotal Southern Conference contest at the Greensboro Coliseum. The short-handed Spartans only played with six scholarship players and eight total players saw action in the 14-point win.
Six different Spartans scored in double figures in the victory, marking the Spartans second straight win in their regular season-ending three-game home stretch. UNCG closes out the regular season Saturday evening as they host Chattanooga at 5 p.m. at the Greensboro Coliseum.
“I am proud of how we are continuing to improve defensively,” head coach Wes Miller said. “I thought we had a really nice second performance defensively, holding them to 34 percent shooting. We are sharing the basketball and I think that is a sign of playing together. We had 16 assists on 28 made field goals tonight and that is a trend that we are headed in the right direction.”
The victory improves the Spartans to 6-11 in SoCon play and coupled with VMI's double overtime loss at home to Chattanooga, keeps UNCG in the running for the sixth and final bye in the upcoming SoCon Tournament. The Spartans trail the Keydets (7-11) by one game with one remaining and are tied with The Citadel for seventh place, but would own the tiebreaker if they catch VMI Saturday.
Paulos, who was held scoreless in the first half, helped the Spartans ignite a second half run as he hit his first 3-pointer at the 12:53 mark before reaching the 1,000-point mark at the 10:02 mark in fitting fashion, nailing his second long range bomb of the night. He finished with 11 points and five rebounds as he was 3-of-5 from distance and was won of six players in double figures in the victory.
“I am really happy to see Nicholas get his 1,000th point and get it at home,” Miller said. “He is a guy that is really invested in our program and a four-year senior. He has gotten better every single year and it is really good to see those types of players get rewarded with some individual accolades. It will be fun to celebrated his career before the game Saturday night against Chattanooga on senior night.”
Redshirt sophomore center R.J. White (Frisco, Texas/Frisco) continued his dominant play of late as he posted his seventh double-double of the season. White scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in 25 minutes of action as he was 10-of-13 from the field. Over his last four games, he is averaging 19.3 points per game and is shooting 69.8 percent (30-of-43) from the field in just 23.4 minutes per game.
Sophomore guard Tevon Saddler (Aberdeen, Md./St. Francs Academy) also continued his strong play as he fell just shy of a double-double as well with 10 points and a career-high eight assists. Saddler's play helped the Spartans hand out 16 assists compared to just nine turnovers while playing all game against the Samford full court pressure. Saddler has averaged 5.7 assists per game over the last seven games, including back-to-back nights with new career highs in helpers while posting a 1.82 assist/turnover ratio.
Junior forward Kayel Locke (Baltimore, Md./McDonogh) score 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the victory as he hit all six of his free throws. Sophomore Diante Baldwin (Greensboro, N.C./High Point Christian) added 11 points and three steals in 35 minutes of play. Junior guard Asad Lamot (Mebane, N.C./Lees-McRae) added a career-high eight points off the bench as he was 3-of-4 from the field, including a pair of 3-pointres.
The Spartans finished the night shooting 50 percent (28-of-56) from the field and hit 7-of-15 (46.7%) from long range in the victory. UNCG dominated play in the paint, scoring 36 points down low while also holding a 37-30 edge on the glass with 12 offensive rebounds.
Samford (12-18, 5-12) finished the game shooting 43.8 percent (21-of-48) from the field and 6-of-13 (46.2%) from long range. The Bulldogs only connected on 61.3 percent (19-of-31) from the field and committed 11 turnovers on the night. Christen Cunningham led the way with 19 points while Tyler Hood and Marcus Johnson each finished with 11 points.
The teams came out of the gate and traded baskets in the early going with the game tied at 16-16 just over eight minutes into the contest. The Spartans had the first run of the contest, posting an 8-2 surge to take a 31-24 lead. Lamot provided the spark off the bench as he scored five points in the run, including a 3-pointer, which forced a Samford timeout.
The Bulldogs answered back with a 9-2 run of its own to tie the game at 33-33. Cunningham scored three points in the run before Hood got loose for back-to-back baskets tying the game. White converted an old-fashioned 3-point play with 48 seconds remaining to give the Spartans a 36-33 lead at the break.
The teams came out of the halftime break and the Spartans opened to a 43-36 lead as White again converted a 3-point play. After Samford cut the lead to two at 43-41 with 16:08 remaining, the Spartans scored seven straight points and churned out a 22-4 run to take a 65-45 lead with 9:11 remaining.
White started the run with another basket on the inside before the Spartans started to heat up from distance. Lamot, Paulos (two) and Baldwin all hit 3-pointers in the run taking UNCG to a 20-point advantage. Paulos scored eight points during the stretch while White added six points.
Samford tried to make a run using its full court pressure to cause some havoc but the Bulldogs were only able to pull within 11 points at 73-62 with 2:52 remaining. The Spartans sealed the victory at the free throw line, hitting six of their last eight from the charity stripe, including five by Baldwin securing the win.
The Spartans out-scored Samford 45-34 in the second half, thanks in large part to their offense, which connected on 58.3 percent (14-of-24) from the field. Additionally, the Spartans held the Bulldogs to just 34.8 percent (8-of-23) shooting from the field in the final 20 minutes.
-UNCG-
