ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men's basketball team never stopped believing.
The Spartans never gave up. They almost caught up.
Trailing by 22 points at intermission, the sixth-seeded Spartans displayed championship poise, resilience, character, heart, and grit during the second half of their Southern Conference quarterfinal contest against third-seeded Samford Saturday night to put themselves in a position to extend the season.
In a fiercely fought contest featuring plenty of blood, sweat, pride, and passion, the Spartans ran out of time, 66-64, in a heartbreaking setback. After all, for the Spartans, battling is akin to breathing. There was no other option over the final 20 minutes.
Man-to-man defense was out.
Soul-to-soul defense was in.
The bench was locked in as it cheered with zest every defensive stop.
Dante Treacy led four UNCG players in double figures with 16 points.
Bas Leyte battled for 14 points despite a gash he suffered on his elbow that drew blood.
De'Monte Buckingham and
Mohammed Abdulsalam finished with 13 points each for UNCG.
The deficit continued to shrink until was down to two points and the Spartans had the ball with 4.9 seconds remaining to either force overtime or complete an amazing rally.
UNCG got the shot it wanted – a wide open 3-pointer from
Kobe Langley. It looked good when it left his hands from in front of the Spartan bench. Unfortunately, the ball rattled around the rim and fell to floor.
Playing their guts out, UNCG exited the Harrah's Cherokee Center Asheville disappointed with the result, but with its heads held high because of the extraordinary effort it displayed when all seemed lost. The crowd was breathless during UNCG's frenetic rally.
The Spartans gave their all and that was a reason to be proud.
If ever one game could sum up a team, this was that game.
Quotable
UNCG head coach Mike Jones on his team's effort in the second half.
"Really proud of the way the guys responded and gave ourselves chances to win, we just ran out of chances. That one (UNCG's final shot attempt) couldn't have been closer, other than going in, but I'm proud of the way our guys never stopped competing. It's a 40-minute game no matter how bad you play in the first 20."
Abdulsalam on UNCG's second half effort and being able to get back into the game.
"That second half just showed the Spartan Way. We talked about it at halftime and we always knew we would face adversity. It's part of basketball and it's something that always happens. Them dudes came out hot and that was OK because everybody makes their runs. We got back in the locker room and sat down and talked. It wasn't time to panic or lose our minds.
"It was time to come together and that's pretty much what we did. We made stops here and there. We scored here and there. We knew we could get back in the game. We just had to make sure we kept our character. Even though we lost, we showed the Spartan Way for sure. The result doesn't determine the hard work we put in."
How It Happened
- UNCG outscored Samford, 42-22, in the second half.
- The Spartans shot 48.4 percent in the second half (15-for-31).
- They held Samford to 5-for-22 shooting after intermission (22.7 percent).
- Treacy made a season-best four 3-pointers.
- Leyte made two foul shots to bring UNCG to within, 65-64 with 8 seconds remaining. The Bulldogs split a pair of foul shot to set the stage for the ending.
- The Spartans finished the game on a 12-5 run.
- Trailing, 61-52, with 5:03 remaining, UNCG didn't quit.
- The Spartans controlled the first 7:09 of the second half with a 22-3 run that cut the Bulldogs' lead to three, 47-44, and put UNCG back in the game.
- UNCG charged out of the locker room by scoring the first 15 points of the second half to close to within, 44-37, with 14:55 remaining following a Treacy 3-pointer.
- Samford sprinted to an 18-8 lead by making 6 of its first 8 shots, including 4 of 5 from 3-point distance, by the first media timeout.
- Logan Dye (eight rebounds) and Ques Glover (seven assists) led the Bulldogs with 19 points each.
Inside the Numbers
- UNCG had 14 assists on 24 baskets.
- The Spartans won the rebounding battle, 32-30.
- This was the 11th game this season in which UNCG had a scoring run of 10 or more points.
- The 15-0 surge to begin the second half was the best of the 2021-22 season.
- This was the fourth time this season that Treacy scored in double figures and the 20th of his career.
- This was the seventh time this season that Abdulsalam scored in double figures and the 12th time during his career.
- This was the 12th time this season that Leyte scored in double figures and the 13th of his career.
- Leyte led UNCG with seven rebounds, the 23rd time this season he finished with at least five rebounds in a game.
- This was the ninth time this season that Buckingham has scored double-digit points in the second half.
- Buckingham scored in double figures 21 times.
- It was the 80th time in his career that he scored in double figures.
- The Spartans shot 45.3 percent from the field and were particularly successful down low, outscoring the Bulldogs 36-8 in the paint.
Final Word
Jones on the game and his program.
"We were us in the second half; we were not us in the first half. I am very proud of the way those guys responded to adversity. Those guys have responded and risen every time. I am obviously disappointed in the way we started but credit goes to (Samford). We try to get up every day and get better. We try to get up every day and fight, that's part of our culture. Things happen to us in life; it's all about how we respond to those things."
