news-record.com

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Kyle Randall scored 21 points, 13 in the second half, and UNCG pulled away for a 73-40 rout of Samford on Saturday.

The Spartans (2-4, 1-0 Southern Conference) outscored Samford 42-12 in the second half, while the Bulldogs (2-6, 1-1) shot 3-for-22 and had no field goals in the final 11:15.

Brandon Evans added 16 points for UNCG, while Ben Stywall and Korey Van Dussen each scored 11.

Stywall also had 15 rebounds, giving him his first double-double of the season.

The 33-point victory was UNCG's largest over a Division I opponent — home or away. The previous largest margin had come against The Citadel, 84-54. The defeat was Samford's most lopsided at the Pete Hanna Center since it opened two seasons ago.

"Clearly that was our best effort of the year," said UNCG coach Mike Dement. "Kyle Randall and Korey Van Dussen just made play after play after play this afternoon. Ben Stywall rebounded very well. Samford missed shots that they have made thus far this season, but I thought we did a great job of mixing defenses on them a lot. It was our best effort offensive and defensively in a long, long time.

"This is not an easy place to play. They really played well the other night against Elon and we didn't in our last outing against East Carolina. So to do this feels today really good."

The Bulldogs got 15 points from Brian Friday, 12 of which came in the first half.

Samford led 33-31 after Andy King's 3-pointer with 18:32 remaining. The Spartans scored 29 of the next 35 points over an 11-minute span.

UNCG (2-4) — Stywall 5-7 1-1 11, Brown 2-5 3-3 7, VanDussen 4-10 0-0 11, Randall 9-16 0-0 21, Toney 1-5 0-0 3, Sellers 0-0 0-0 0, Koivisto 0-0 0-0 0, Smith 0-0 2-2 2, Hardiman 0-0 0-0 0, Bone 1-2 0-0 2, Evans 5-9 3-3 16, Cole 0-1 0-0 0, Jackson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-55 9-9 73.

SAMFORD (2-6) — B.Friday 5-12 3-4 15, King 1-4 2-2 5, Davis 3-12 0-0 8, Merritt 0-1 1-2 1, Montgomery 2-5 1-2 6, Peterson 1-3 0-0 3, Johnson 0-4 2-2 2, Wooten 0-1 0-0 0, M.Friday 0-2 0-3 0. Totals 12-44 9-15 40.

Halftime—UNCG 31-28.
3-point goals—UNCG 10-18 (Evans 3-4, VanDussen 3-5, Randall 3-6, Toney 1-3), Samford 7-26 (B.Friday 2-3, Davis 2-10, Montgomery 1-2, Peterson 1-3, King 1-3, Merritt 0-1, Wooten 0-1, M.Friday 0-1, Johnson 0-2).
Fouled out—None.
Rebounds—UNCG 40 (Stywall 15), Samford 22 (M.Friday 5).
Assists—UNCG 14 (VanDussen 4), Samford 10 (Montgomery 5).
Total fouls—UNCG 15, Samford 11.
A—663.