GREENSBORO, N.C. – For the second time this season, UNC Greensboro men’s basketball has won seven straight games, as the Spartans on Thursday defeated Samford 75-67 at the Greensboro Coliseum.
Now 21-3 on the season, most wins through 24 games in program history, the Spartans have won 10 Southern Conference games so far this season. This is also the third straight season in which UNCG has won at least 10 SoCon regular season games.
Despite senior guard Francis Alonso, the No. 2 overall scorer in program history, being held scoreless in the first half, UNCG was able to take a nine-point lead into the halftime break in part due to the pairing of sophomore guard Isaiah Miller and redshirt freshman guard Kaleb Hunter.
In the first 20 minutes of action, Miller – who scored the Spartans’ first five points on the night – totaled nine points on 4-of-9 shooting along with grabbing six rebounds.
Hunter, meanwhile, added 10 points off the bench on 4-of-7 shooting. The Raleigh, N.C., native also grabbed three offensive boards.
Defensively, UNCG held Samford to 38 percent shooting while forcing 11 turnovers.
UNCG’s lead was quickly wiped away in the second half as a 9-0 run by the Bulldogs pulled Samford even at 39 with less than 16 minutes remaining.
Despite the tie score, UNCG didn’t surrender the lead before using a 9-0 of its own while holding Samford scoreless over the course of a four-plus-minute span.
While UNCG and Samford would once again be deadlocked, this time at 59 with four minutes remaining, a flurry of action led to the Spartans expanding their lead to 10. During a 1:24 span, back-to-back threes by Demetrius Troy and Miller were followed by a jumper from the sophomore along with junior forward Kyrin Galloway on a putback slam.
The Spartans will now embark on three-straight road games, starting with a tilt against Chattanooga this Saturday.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
News And Notes
–Already this season the Spartans have compiled two winning streaks of at least six games. From Dec. 7-Jan. 5 the team won seven straight outings and now the Spartans have won seven straight dating back to a victory over Furman on Jan. 12.
–The victory was UNCG’s 12th at home this season and 22nd victory on home court in the team’s last 23 outings.
–The 12 home victories are tied for the third-most in a single season in program history. Last year’s team won a program record 16 home games followed 13 in 2016-17 and 12 in 2015-16.
–This is the fifth time in program history that the Spartans have reached 21 wins in a season.
–This is the fastest the Spartans have reached the 21-win mark.
–Entering Thursday night’s action, only five teams have reached 21 wins on the season: Gonzaga, Tennessee, Houston, Michigan and Nevada. All three of those teams are ranked in the AP Top 25.
–With the victory UNCG now leads the all-time series with Samford 14-10.
–With the victory, UNCG has won five straight games against the Bulldogs.
–Alonso started his 119th career game, surpassing Kyle Hines and Jay Joseph for the most in program history.
–The Spartans used the same starting lineup for a seventh-straight game, all victories.
