With VMI commanding as much as an 11-pt lead during the 2nd half, the Spartans didn’t see the lead go their way until the final 2:26 when Isaiah Miller sank 2 lovely freethrows. If you’re going to have the lead at any time in the game, the end is the right time.
UNCG took the lead for good with 33 seconds to go as Isaiah Miller missed a contested post shot and James Dickey put back the rebound while getting fouled. The subsequent freethrow gave the G a 2-pt lead, 70-68.
James Dickey
3-6 FG, 3-4 FT, 12 reb, 2 ast, 3 to. James has come on strong lately and it’s paying dividends. This is the right time of year to be playing your best ball.
Angelo Allegri
4-7 FG (2-4 3PT), 1-1 FT, 3 reb, 1 ast, 1 to. Gelo put in an excellent performance today helping the team when it needed it most.
Kyrin Galloway
3-13 FG (2-10 3PT), 2-2 FT, 10 reb, 1 ast, 3 blk. Off shooting day for Kyrin but man did he pull his weight in other ways.
Isaiah Miller
8-20 FG (1-5 3PT), 6-9 FT, 8 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk, 4 to. Not a great shooting day for Isaiah but he still found ways to contribute to the W.
Big Mo
3-3 FG, 2 reb. About the most efficient 11 mins he can be asked to do.
Michael Hueitt Jr
1-3 FG (1-2 3PT), 2 reb. Michael put in 12 good minutes with a lot of hustle and injured his shoulder when diving for a loose ball. Should be okay.
Malik Massey
1-5 3PT, 2-2 FT, 2 reb, 2 ast. Not the best performance from the senior.
Keyshaun Langley
0-2 3PT, 2-2 FT, 1 reb, 2 ast.
Kaleb Hunter
0-4 FG (0-1 3PT), 1 reb, 2 to.
Kobe Langley
4 mins – 1-3 FG (0-1 3PT), 1 reb. Kobe was inadvertently undercut attempting to recover a steal. He landed mid-cartwheel and his head bounced twice on the floor. After a few scary minutes, he stood with help and was escorted to the locker room, eventually leaving in an ambulance. He was to stay in Lexington overnight, but word is he’ll be okay. My guess is he’ll be under concussion protocol and probably not play until the tournament. He’s had a hard year with injuries and re-injuries.
Bas Leyte
1 min – no stats.
Khyre Thompson – Did not play.
Ryan Tankelewicz – Did not play.
Game Summary
What won this game? It sure wasn’t our defense. UNCG only forced 9 VMI turnovers including 2 steals. Not our normal game. Not by a long shot.
And when you add that to sub-standard 35% FG shooting and 23% 3-point shooting, I don’t know exactly how we won.
Wait, yes I do. Rebounding and Freethrows. You read that correctly.
We outrebounded VMI by 12 and went 16-20 from the charity stripe. If we’d shot our normal game at the line, we would have lost by a few points.
It was not a pretty game and there are very few highlights. But the biggest highlight of all is that we left Lexington with a big, fat W against a VMI team that is playing very well as of late. They just played ETSU to the wire and beat Western.
So you know what? I’m happy we escaped with an ugly win. Because today our only other choice was an ugly loss.
- Rebounds: UNCG 49, VMI 37
- Bench Points: UNCG 24, VMI 28
- 2nd Chance Pts: UNCG 20, VMI 7
- Pts in the Paint: UNCG 26, VMI 18
- Pts off Turnovers: UNCG 16, VMI 13
- Steals: UNCG 2, VMI 4
- Turnovers: UNCG 11, VMI 9
- Blocks: UNCG 4, VMI 4
Furman’s up next in Greensboro after just escaping Wofford at home, 67-66.
Wednesday, Furman is ours. On Senior Night. On a night James Dickey could very well break the UNCG Rebound Record. How do the kids say it? Wednesday is gonna be lit.
