Box Score ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The eighth-seeded UNCG men's basketball team was eliminated from the 2015 Southern Conference Tournament Saturday afternoon as the Spartans dropped a 70-52 contest to top-seeded and defending SoCon Tournament champion Wofford at the U.S. Cellular Center. The Spartans were playing their second game in less than 20 hours as they opened the tournament with a four-point win over Samford in the opening round.
“First and foremost, I am really proud of my bunch,” head coach Wes Miller said. “This has been an incredible group to coach and I think we have started to build an identity for our program. Really disappointed that we couldn't keep this thing going because we have played so well this last four to six weeks and believe we could beat anyone in this tournament. I feel especially bad for Nicholas (Paulos) that we couldn't keep his senior year going today. He has been a great four-year Spartan and has true love for our program.”
Junior forward Kayel Locke (Baltimore, Md./McDonogh) posted his second straight double-double in the loss as he scored a team-high 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Locke connected on 7-of-14 from the field and 3-of-4 from the free throw line. Sophomore guard Diante Baldwin (Greensboro, N.C./High Point Christian) added 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field.
“We have to continue to build on the mentality we have shown the last six weeks of the season,” Locke said. “We have been through so much adversity this year, but nobody in the locker room gave up or quit. Everybody banded together this year because we are all brothers. We figured it out together as a team this year and I think that if we continue to build on that mentality, the sky is the limit for this group.”
The Spartans finished the game shooting 35.1 percent (20-of-57) from the field and hit just 2-of-15 (62.5%) from 3-point land in the loss. UNCG was out-rebounded by a 36-30 margin but did grab 12 offensive rebounds. Wofford conversely shot 50 percent (24-oif-48) from the field and 33.3 percent (6-of-18) from long range. Spencer Collins led all scorers with 21 points as he was 9-of-14 from the field while Karl Cochran and Lee Skinner each added 12 points.
“You have to tip your cap to Wofford,” Miller said. “They do the little things better than any other team in the country. The pay attention to details and are focused on the little things better than anyone we have faced. For us to be successful tonight, we had to win the rebounding battle and were unable to do that in the end. Credit to Mike for the program he has built. Anyone who wants to win this tournament will have to go through Wofford. We are just disappointed we couldn't accomplish that today.”
Wofford (26-6) held an early 8-4 lead as points were at a premium in the early going after Collins hit a 3-pointer. The Spartans were able to pull within two at 10-8 after Baldwin scored off a drive. The Terriers answered with 10 straight points to take a 20-8 lead with 7:04 remaining in the opening half. Jaylen Allen came off the bench to provide a spark, scoring five straight points to cap the spurt, including a 3-pointer.
The Spartans kept battling and narrowed the gap to 24-16 as junior Asad Lamot (Mebane, N.C./Lees-McRae) hit a pair of free throws. After a Wofford basket, senior Nicholas Paulos (Salt Lake City, Utah/New Hampton School) hit a pair of free throws and Baldwin again scored in the paint to make it a 26-20 contest with 2:02 remaining. The Terriers though scored the final four points off the half, capped by a Collins basket in the paint for a 30-20 lead.
The Spartans connected on just 29.2 percent (7-of-24) from the field and only 1-of-8 (12.5%) from long range in the first half. Wofford connected on 41.7 percent (10-of-24) from the field but also hit 8-of-10 (80%) from the free throw line compared to just 5-of-8 for the Spartans.
Wofford extended its lead to 15 points early in the second half by scoring seven straight to make it a 44-28 lead with 16:12 left. Eric Garcia started the run with a layup in transition while Skinner capped the spurt with a basket in transition as well.
The Spartans kept pushing back and responded with an 8-1 run to narrow the gap to 45-36. Baldwin was the catalyst as he scored seven of the eight points in the stretch, including a steal and basket in transition to force a Wofford timeout. Each time the Spartans made a run though, Wofford had a big basket up its sleeves to push its lead out farther.
After Collins gave the Terriers a 52-39 lead, the Spartans made their final push. UNCG ran off six straight points to narrow the gap to 52-45 with 7:58 remaining in the game. Locke provided all of the offense as the Spartans went inside and he converted against the Terriers.
Wofford was able to keep the Spartans at an arm's distance as Garcia had a big 3-pointer to make it a 60-48 contest with 4:15 remaining. The Spartans kept pushing but then Cochran hit back-to-back 3-pointers while the Terriers were running down the clock to seal the victory.
Paulos finished the game with five points in his 125th career and final game, including a 3-pointer. He finishes his career third all-time in career 3-pointers made with 262, just one out of second place, and finishes with 1,030 career points. Additionally, he set the UNCG single-season record for minutes played with 1,178 minutes, over 150 more than the previous record.
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