Courtesy UNCG Athletics
NEWARK, DEL. – UNC Greensboro men’s basketball continued its winning ways on Saturday afternoon, as the Spartans knocked off Louisiana Tech by a final of 80-73 at the Bob Carpenter Center.
With the victory, the Spartans are now 6-1 through seven games for the first time in program history. Additionally, the team is currently riding a five-game winning streak with victories over UNCW, Johnson & Wales, Prairie View A&M, Delaware and Louisiana Tech.
“I just thought we competed, I thought they competed and I thought it was really hard for us to get stops,” said Head Coach Wes Miller. “We kept telling them at every timeout that if we could string together a couple of stops [we’d win]. It wasn’t easy. We try and hang our hat on being a defensive-minded team. I thought the effort to do it was probably there and the focus was probably there, but give them a lot of credit. They made it really hard.”
The Spartans had a balanced scoring attack in the first half, as nine of the 10 players that appeared for UNCG in the opening frame contributed at least two points, led by sophomore guard Isaiah Miller and junior forward James Dickey, who both had six points.
Additionally, Dickey pulled down nine rebounds in the first half, three of which were on the offensive glass.
UNCG shot nearly 47 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes while limiting Louisiana Tech to just 18 percent shfrom downtown. While the action was close throughout the first 20 minutes, the Spartans led by as much as nine before heading into the halftime break up 35-29.
In the second half, UNCG was able to maintain its lead before getting past the Bulldogs by a final of 80-73. Early in the second half, senior guard Francis Alonso was hot from the floor as the Malaga, Spain, native hit back-to-back jumpers before hitting a three with 16:10 left to extend UNCG’s lead to eight points, 43-35.
While Louisiana Tech would twice cut UNCG’s lead to just two points, the Spartans eventually pulled away as senior guard Demetrius Troy hit two clutch threes in the final 3:30 before holding off a late push by Louisiana Tech for a seven-point victory.
The Spartans will return to the Greensboro Coliseum to face Greensboro College on Tuesday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
If UNCG is able to knock off Greensboro College, it will set a new program record for consecutive home victories at 13. Entering Saturday’s action, UNCG’s current 12-game home winning streak is the eighth longest in the nation
