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If it's late January and you're a college basketball coach, you'd better have a sense of humor. The game can be relentless and stressful, and chances are by now you've seen it all -- bad bounces, bad decisions, bad calls.

Bottom line: You'd better be able to laugh at yourself.

College basketball is serious business in these parts, but for an hour Thursday afternoon the people gathered for the Tom Ward Basketball Luncheon at the Greensboro Coliseum got a glimpse at the lighter side.

UNCG men's coach Mike Dement made fun of himself for a dubious first in his 23-year career: After getting two technical fouls in the Spartans last game against Samford, by Southern Conference rule Dement was suspended from coaching Thursday night's game against Elon at the coliseum.

"Basically, the conference fined me $8," Dement said, "because that's what I'll have to pay to watch the game on the all-access (Web) site."

Dement led a shootaround Thursday afternoon, but he had to be out of the coliseum one hour before tipoff. Associate coach Rod Jensen and assistant Brian Judski were to coach in Dement's place against Elon.

"We play Elon tonight," Dement told the crowd. "Well, the team does, anyway. I hope everyone will be there tonight so you can let me know how it goes."

Dement said the back-to-back technicals and the ejection were embarrassing.

"Was it worth it?" someone shouted from the crowd.

Dement laughed.

"I'll tell you after tonight," he said.

TRIAD'S BEST

Not to be outdone, Bobby Allison had a couple of one-liners of his own.

Allison is the first-year head coach of the second-year GTCC Titans women's basketball team. His freshman-laden team is 20-1 -- the best record of any college program in the Triad.

The Titans lead their league by three games with three to go in conference play.

Even so, Allison said he doesn't feel snubbed by being left out of the national polls.

"Honestly, we're not one of the 25 best teams in the nation," he said. "I'll tell you one thing, though. We're the best team in the country at taking a 15-point lead and turning it into a two-point lead in about a minute and 40 seconds. It seems like we've done that every game this year."

Allison said the inconsistency is because he has so many freshmen.

"It's tough at our level," he said. "Once you get your kids playing the way you want them to, it's time for them to move on."

-- JEFF MILLS, Staff Writer