2008 Woodie Awards
Spartans down The Citadel at home, but road woes continue
Brad Howell
Issue date: 1/31/06 Section: Sports
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The Spartans (10-11, 3-4 SoCon) turned in a solid defensive performance against The Citadel, holding it to only 29 percent shooting from the field, with only 14 total field goals. The Bulldogs were the fourth team UNCG has held under 50 points this season.
Kyle Hines and Ricky Hickman once again led the offensive charge for UNCG, going for 17 and 16 points, respectively. But it was the stellar play of sophomore point guard Dwayne Johnson that set the tone for the Spartans.
"I thought Dwayne Johnson made some really nice point guard plays down the stretch," said Spartan coach Mike Dement.
"He's playing as well as he's ever played."
Johnson had a very solid "point guard" game. He scored only eight points, but he got to the paint at will and took great care of the ball, dishing seven assists against zero turnovers.
The Queens, NY native easily penetrated the lane, and made several nice dishes. Johnson also converted a conventional three-point play in the second half when he converted a free throw after being fouled on a spin move to the hoop.
The Spartans shot the ball well for the game, hitting 56.8 percent of their shots from the field. UNC Greensboro held a comfortable lead for most of the contest, but The Citadel trailed by only six after Dante Terry nailed a three-pointer with 8:41 remaining.
The Spartans turned up the defense from that point on, limiting the Bulldogs to just one more field goal the rest of the way.
The match-up with Georgia Southern pitted two of the SoCon's best scorers against each other. Elton Nesbitt, who leads the conference in scoring with 21.8 ppg, squared off against Hickman, who is second in the league with a 19.1 scoring average. The two didn't disappoint either, as Nesbitt went for a season-high 36 points to lead the Eagles to a 86-78 win.
Hickman recorded his eighth 20-point game of the year, scoring 26 points on the night. Hines contributed a double-double with 22 points and 13 rebounds.
The Spartans dropped their first game of the season while leading at the half. UNC Greensboro had reeled off 23 consecutive wins when going into the locker room with the lead, last losing against Wofford in the SoCon tournament back in March of 2004.
Poor free throw shooting and turnovers plagued UNCG, as they hit only 17-of-30 attempts at the line while turning the ball over 25 times.
The Spartans were in good shape before the half however, thanks to a 16-3 run that game them a 39-35 halftime lead.
Georgia Southern responded by going on an 11-3 run of its own to open the second half and regain the lead. UNCG never recovered, despite a late 8-1 run.
The Spartans continued the road trip Monday against Wofford, but scores were not available at press time.
UNCG returns home on Saturday, Feb. 4 against Furman. Tip-off is at 7 pm.
