ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Wes Miller knows there is more than one way to win a basketball game. Someday, whenever he stops the numbers-crunching, he might even share the final digit.
All the veteran UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men's basketball coach knows is that this season, he is up to 19 and very much counting after a hard-earned 80-72 victory over eighth-seeded The Citadel in a quarterfinal of the Ingles Southern Conference Championship Tournament presented by General Shale Brick at the Harrah's Cherokee Center Saturday.
As they have throughout a season that has nudged them closer to their goal, the top-seeded Spartans relied on their defense late in the game to advance to the SoCon semifinals Sunday at 5 p.m. on ESPNU.
"First off, I want to tip my cap to Duggar Baucom and his club," Miller said. "They made it hard for us tonight and you felt like you couldn't relax. They made a lot of great plays, effort plays to the ball, and scored the ball around the rim. It wasn't pretty all the way for us, but I feel we had some great moments. What I am proud of is we found a way and we locked in defensively for the final three or four minutes."
UNCG finished with a flourish, scoring 11 of the game's final 14 points after The Citadel's Derek Webster, Jr. tied the game at 69 with 2:42 remaining.
UNCG also showcased its depth as 10 players hit the scoring column and made numerous contributions during key moments to earn another film session, shootaround, and pregame meal. It wasn't easy, but in March the only thing that matters is finishing with the most points when the clock hits triple zeroes.
"I used to probably over-analyze winning and losing," Miller said. "I've done it long enough to know that anytime you win; you just go, 'I am glad we won.' They're hard to get at this level. In tournament play, it's about surviving and advancing. It doesn't matter how you do it."
SoCon Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year
Isaiah Miller led four Spartans in double figures with 21 points and six rebounds. His biggest basket occurred with 2 minutes, 23 seconds remaining. He hit a short jump shot off an offensive rebound to give UNCG the lead for good, 71-69.
That basket scored at 1:49 p.m. Eastern Standard Time was the 1,900th career point for the splendid Miller. He has 1,904 points and 309 steals.
Angelo Allegri and
Hayden Koval added 13 points each. It was the second straight 13-point outing for Koval.
Aside from the three first-half 3-pointers he made to help UNCG to a 45-39 halftime lead, Koval's most memorable play was a blocked shot with 63 seconds remaining and UNCG protecting a 74-70 lead.
The Citadel's Tyler Moffe thought he had an easy and wide-open layup until the Spartans' 7-foot long-arm of the law appeared and swatted the shot off the backboard.
A.J. McGinnis scored 10 points and
Mohammed Abdulsalam finished with nine points for UNCG.
Keyshaun Langley added six assists.
Kobe Langley had three steals. The difference in the game was UNCG's bench as it outscored The Citadel, 32-10.
Bas Leyte,
Khyre Thompson, and
Jarrett Hensley also supplied positive energy for the Spartans.
"I felt like we came out a little sluggish today,"
Kobe Langley said. "The bench was hyped and once we got comfortable with our rotations, that helped us. Everybody contributed for us tonight. Everybody knows about our starters, but we have guys on the bench who can play.
"This is what we work for and we do this all the time in practice. We just keep working and trying to win games. (Hayden's block) was a game-saver. He's one of the best shot-blockers I've seen in my life. Once he blocked that shot, I was hyped for him and the team was hyped for him."
Inside The Numbers
- Fletcher Abee led The Citadel with 18 points.
- Also scoring in double figures for The Citadel was Hayden Brown (15 points, nine rebounds), Kaiden Rice (12), and Moffe (11).
- UNCG finished with more 3-pointers made than The Citadel, 9-5.
- Miller has 18 games this season with at least two steals.
- Miller has scored in double figures 25 times this season and 97 times in his career.
- UNCG tied a season-high with 45 points in the first half.
- The Spartans were 7-of-12 from 3-point distance in the first half.
- Keyshaun Langley has handed out at least four assists 12 times this season,
- Over the last two seasons, Allegri has 29 games in which he's made at least two 3-pointers.
- Allegri has 116 career 3-pointers.
- This was the seventh time this season that Allegri scored in double figures.
- Koval has scored at least eight points in eight of UNCG's last nine games.
- Koval has 333 career blocked shots, which is tied for 54th all-time in NCAA history with Jerome Jordan (Tulsa).
