Pirates Heat Up Late, Beat UNCG

UNCG 73 - East Carolina 76

UNCG Athletics

Halftime: UNCG 39 - ECU 31

UNCG Stats
Leader Points: Trevis Simpson (19)
Leader Rebounds: Derrell Armstrong (8)
Leader Assists: Drew Parker (6)
FG: 26-59 (44.1%)
3 Pt: 11-23 (47.8%)
FT: 10-12 (83.3%)
Rebounds: 34
Turnovers: 14

East Carolina Stats
Leader Points: Miguel Paul (24)
Leader Rebounds: Maurice Kemp (10)
Leader Assists: Maurice Kemp (4)
FG: 24-49 (49.0%)
3 Pt: 7-22 (31.8%)
FT: 21-30 (70.0%)
Rebounds: 31
Turnovers: 10

Thoughts
UNCG led for the majority of this game, but went without a field goal from the 9:32 mark of the second half to the 2:53 mark. Over that span, UNCG went from being up 6 to down 6. Also, the Spartans shot 18 less free throws (made 11 less) than the  Pirates.

Having said all of that, the Spartans had 2 chances at the end to send the game to overtime. After Trevis Simpson's attempt was rebounded by Derrell Armstrong, Coach Wes Miller tried in vain to get a timeout. However, the refs couldn't hear Miller and Armstrong's last second prayer wasn't answered.

Even in the loss, UNCG did a lot of things better than they had in previous games. First, they played better post defense and got contributions from more than just Simpson (Van Dussen 18 pts, Locke 14 pts) and they managed to play well in a grinder game that didn't have high possessions and saw the Spartans only get 6 fast break points. Also the Spartans seemed to bring a consistant effort and intensity to the court.

So while a chance to get a road victory didn't happen, there are plenty of things to build off of going forward. Now there are chances to defeat two "Power Six" conference teams at the Greensboro Coliseum. It's time to seize some of these opportunities.

Go Spartans !!!