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Men's Basketball Continues Home Stretch Sunday Against Furman
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNCG men's basketball team continues its five-game home stretch Sunday afternoon as the Spartans look to post their second straight victory when they host Southern Conference foe Furman. Game time is set for 2 p.m. at the Greensboro Coliseum and will be broadcast on 1320 WCOG AM and online at www.uncgspartans.com with Scott Pryzwansky and Darryl Kosciak providing the call.
UNCG enters the game with a 2-3 record in SoCon play after posting a 19-point victory over visiting Wofford Wednesday night at the Greensboro Coliseum. The Spartans turned in arguably their most complete game as they held a 13-point halftime lead and extended it to 20 in the second half while also holding a dominated 43-25 edge on the glass. UNCG held Wofford to just 52 points, the lowest point total allowed this season by the Spartans as the Terries hit just 36.5 percent from the field.
Junior guard Trevis Simpson (Douglas, Ga./Coffee) leads the team and the SoCon in scoring at 18.4 points per game and is coming off a team-high 19 points against Wofford and has scored at least 20 points in a game on five different occasions this season. Simpson is second on the team with 30 three-pointers made as he is shooting 34.9 percent from distance while also hitting 75.5 percent (37-of-49) from the free throw line.
Senior guard Derrell Armstrong (Mechanicsville, Md./Allegany CC) is second on the team and third in the league in scoring at 16.8 points per game. Armstrong scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the victory over Wofford as he hit 6-of-7 from the free throw line.
Fifth-year senior forward Kelvin McNeil (Newport News, Va./Delaware) added a career-high 13 points and six rebounds against Wofford as he hit 7-of-9 from the charity stripe and all three of his field goals. McNeil leads the team on the glass and ranks eighth in the league at 6.8 rebounds per game. Freshman forward Kayel Locke (Baltimore, Md./McDonogh) rounds out the Spartans in double figures scoring at 10.7 points per game while sophomore Nicholas Paulos (Salt Lake City, Utah/New Hampton School) leads the team with 31 three-pointers made.
Sunday's game marks the 22nd meeting all-time between UNCG and Furman, dating back to Feb. 17, 1998. The Spartans trail the all-time series by a slim 10-11 margin and have dropped two straight to the Paladins over the past two years. UNCG last defeated Furman 66-65 in the SoCon Tournament in the 2009-10 season.
Last year, UNCG dropped a 93-85 contest at Furman, which snapped the Spartans' seven-game winning streak as the two teams combined to shoot 78 total free throws. UNCG connected on 27-of-31 (.871) from the field and Furman hit 37-of-47 (.787) in the hotly contested game. Furman out-shot the Spartans from distance as it hit 52.6 percent from long range compared to just 28.5 percent for UNCG.
Simpson and Armstrong combined to score 52 of the Spartans' 85 points in the loss as Simpson poured in 28 points while Armstrong added 24. Furman placed six different players in double figures scoring in the victory with Brandon Sebirumbi leading the way with 20 points.
Furman enters Sunday's game with a 4-12 overall record and a 1-4 mark in league play. The Paladins have defeated Wofford in SoCon action while dropping games to Western Carolina, the College of Charleston, Davidson and Elon. Furman is also 0-8 this season the road and is allowing 69.3 points per game to its opponents.
Furman is led by Colin Reddick who is the only playing averaging double figures for the Paladins at 12.3 points per game. Reddick also leads the team on the glass at 5.8 rebounds per game and is shooting 53.2 percent (74-of-139) from the field. Stephen Croone is second on the team in scoring at 8.3 points per game and has dished out a team-high 83 assists. Charlie Reddick adds 8.0 points per game while Larry Wideman leads the team with 23 three-pointers.
- UNCG -
