ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men's basketball team, slated as the No. 7 seed, defeated No. 2 Wofford, 75-72, on Saturday afternoon in The Southern Conference (SoCon) Tournament Quarterfinals at Harrah's Cherokee Center.
 
With today's win over the Terriers, the Spartans have reached the SoCon Tournament Semifinals for the 10^th time in program history and first time since the 2021 season.
 
In addition, the Spartans have now won seven of their last 10 games and Head Coach Mike Jones is now 8-4 against the Terriers while at the helm of the UNCG men's basketball program.
 
Justin Neely registered his 20^th double-double of the season and 27^th of his career after pacing the Spartans with 22 points and registering a new career-best 24 rebounds. His 24 boards breaks his previous single-game record of 22 in the UNCG Division I era. His 24 rebounds was also four shy of matching the SoCon Tournament single-game record of 28 which was placed back in 1960.
 
KJ Younger followed closely behind with 19 points, while Noah Norgaard added 17 points, matching his career-best to round out the Spartans in double-figures.

HOW IT HAPPENED 
The Spartans got out to an early 11-3 advantage over the Terriers at 15:14. At 12:20, Wofford tallied a 13-3 run, taking a 21-8 lead at 9:13. The Spartans responded with seven-straight points, taking a 25-21 lead and holding the advantage for the remainder of the half. After Norgaard launched a three-pointer at 1:01, Wofford cut its deficit to four going 2-for-2 at the free throw line. However, UNCG maintained the four-point lead going into break, 36-32. Neely recorded 11 points and 14 rebounds in the first half, marking his third time this season reaching a double-double in the first 20 minutes of play.
 
UNCG recorded a 6-3 run coming out of the locker room before Wofford notched a 16-3 run, taking a 53-45 lead at 12:23. At 12:12, a layup from Clinton Efinda propelled a 10-2 Spartan run to tie things up at 9:37, 55-55. The Terriers put up three-straight points to hold UNCG from taking the lead. The Spartans cut it to a one-point game three more times before a layup from Pinedo gave UNCG the one-point lead at 2:56, 67-66. Wofford's Kahmare Holmes went 1-for-2 at the free throw line to tie things up at 70-70 with 55 seconds remaining. Both teams exchanged three-pointers before UNCG finished out the game with a 5-2 run, snagging the 75-72 victory.

BY THE NUMBERS 

• Pinedo was close to a double-double with eight points and nine boards, while matching his career-best of three blocks.
• Lilian Marville led the Spartans with a career-best nine assists.
• Pinedo and Neely chipped in one steal apiece.
• UNCG bested Wofford in second chance points (12-10), rebounds (47-34) and blocks (5-1)
• Wofford led the way in points off turnovers (10-4), points in the paint (34-20), fast break points (13-9), bench points (7-3), assists (13-11) and steals (5-2).

RECORDS 
UNCG: 15-18, 9-9 SoCon 
WOF: 19-13, 11-7 SoCon


   
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UP NEXT 
The Spartans will face the winner of No. 3 Samford vs. No. 6 Furman on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. in the SoCon Tournament Semifinals at Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville, North Carolina.