GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG men's basketball team held a 10-point second half lead but Southern Conference leading and preseason favorite Chattanooga closed the game on a 39-16 run to posted a 73-60 victory over the Spartans Thursday night at the Greensboro Coliseum. The victory improves the Mocs to 17-3 overall and 6-1 in league play while UNCG falls to 6-13 overall and 2-4 in SoCon action.

UNCG is slated to be back in action Saturday afternoon when it hosts Samford. Currently, the game time has been moved up to 3 p.m. at the Greensboro Coliseum due to the impending winter storm but is subject to change. Follow @UNCGSports on Twitter and monitor www.uncgspartans.com for any further updates. 

It was a tale of two halves for the Spartans offensively as they connected on 56.5 percent (13-of-23) in the first half by were limited to 33.3 percent (9-of-27) in the second half when they were out-scored 44-25. Chattanooga conversely finished the night shooting 51.1 percent (23-of-45) from the field and 50 percent (11-of-22) from 3-point land.

Freshman guard Francis Alonso (Malaga, Spain/Cushing Academy) paced the Spartans with 19 points, 12 of which came in the first half. Alonso was 4-of-7 from the field in the first 20 minutes but was held to 2-of-8 shooting in the second half. Senior forward Kayel Locke (Baltimore, Md./McDonogh) was the only other Spartan in double figures, posting 13 points. Junior R.J. White (Frisco, Texas/Frisco) was held to just eight points and seven rebounds.

Eric Robertson led the Mocs with 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting from distance in 33 minutes of play. Justin Tuoyo added 18 points while Greg Pryor posted 10 points and Tre' McLean added nine points.

The teams came out of the gate hitting from the outside early, each connected on their first three 3-pointers. The Spartans had the game's first run, posting a 9-0 spurt to take a 23-15 lead with 9:36 left in the first half to force Chattanooga into a timeout. Sophomore Garrett Collins (Asheville, N.C./Fishburne Military Academy) came off the bench and hit a 3-pointer while Locke scored four points to give the Spartans the lead.

Chattanooga rallied to tie the game at 27-27 when Robertson hit a 3-pointer but the Spartans closed the first half on an 8-2 run to take a 35-29 lead into the locker room. Alonso scored four points during the closing minutes while White was able to find his way to the free throw line.

The Spartans came out in the second half and built on their lead with a 7-0 run to take a 44-34 lead with 17:15 remaining. Alonso started the run with a 3-pointer before back-to-back dunks by White and junior Diante Baldwin (Greensboro, N.C./High Point Christian) forced the Mocs into another timeout.

Chattanooga responded to the timeout and answered with a 16-2 run to take a 50-46 lead. McLean scored five points in the run and Robertson added four as they both hit from the outside during the stretch. The Spartans also committed four turnovers and connected on just 1-of-8 from the field in the 8:22 stretch of play.

Despite the run the Spartans were still battling and senior guard Asad Lamot (Mebane, N.C./Eastern Alamance) hit a 3-pointer to trim the gap to 53-51. The Spartans were within four points at 59-55 with 4:19 to play but the Mocs turned in an 11-2 run to seal the victory. Chattanooga converted six straight at the free throw line while Robertson hit a 3-pointer as the shot clock was expiring.

-UNCG-