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GREENSBORO — As UNCG teetered on the precipice of another loss Thursday night, its seniors yanked the Spartans back.

Buoyed by their inspired play, UNCG played a strong second half and whipped Chattanooga 62-49 in the Greensboro Coliseum. The win came after three straight losses on the road and improved the Spartans' records to 3-5 in the Southern Conference and 4-15 overall.

It was also their second straight win on their new home court after eight losses. Their next game will be back on their old floor in Fleming Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon against Samford. The game was moved there because of a conflict with a concert featuring Reba McEntire and George Strait in the Coliseum.

The game was an odd reversal of one played 10 days earlier at Chattanooga. In that one, UNCG led 26-20 at halftime but was blitzed by the Mocs in the second half and lost 58-45.

This time, Chattanooga bolted to a 9-0 lead as the Spartans, who ranked 334th out of 347 Division I teams in shooting percentage before the game, missed their first nine shots. The lead mushroomed as high as 24-8 before UNCG, helped by 15 Chattanooga turnovers, clawed back within 29-22 at halftime.

"Coach challenged us seniors at halftime," UNCG guard Kendall Toney said. "He basically told us to step up and everybody bring what they can bring. So that's pretty much what I tried to do."

Seniors Toney, Ben Stywall, Mikko Koivisto and Pete Brown controlled play in the second half. Down 38-30 with 15:35 left, the Spartans scored the next 16 points, holding the Mocs scoreless for a period of 8:44. That streak was part of a larger 27-4 run that ended on Stywall's 3-pointer for a 57-42 lead and a comfortable cushion.

It was not only Stywall's first 3-pointer of the season, it was the first since his sophomore season.

"I was in a bit of a drought," he said with a smile. "Hopefully that will get things going for me."

Stywall finished with 13 points and 15 rebounds, his ninth double-double of the season.

Not only did he tie his career high in rebounds, he got on the floor after loose balls like a man possessed.

Koivisto scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half. He was one of three seniors who started the second half on the bench. He watched the energy exhibited by the young players and got the message.

"We saw them playing hard and we're like 'we're the leaders of this team, we need to lead them,'" Koivisto said.

"When we got on the floor we started playing our hearts out and that was the difference."

Toney, an erratic 3-point shooter, hit two big ones during the Spartans' run.

"I just took what the defense gave me," he said. "My teammates trust me to make those shots. We needed something to happen and me being a senior, I have to do those type of things even when early in the game they didn't go my way."

The fourth senior, Pete Brown, contributed all six of his points in the second half, including a nice up-and-under move.

The Spartans outscored the Mocs 40-20 in the second half, shooting 50 percent.

"We came out the second half and hit shots and played really well defensively and rebounded the ball exceptionally well," said UNCG coach Mike Dement. "We wish that we could pit it together two halves, and if we could do that we could be a really good team."

Ricky Taylor scored 21 to lead Chattanooga (3-3, 11-8), which shot 25.7 percent in the second half.

"Sometimes in basketball the early lead is a demon and that's what happened tonight," said Mocs point guard Keegan Bell.

Notes: Chattanooga coach John Shulman was an assistant to Jeff Lebo when the Mocs played UNCG in the Coliseum on Jan. 7, 2003, a game they won 72-56. Shulman said that game "felt like two road teams" but this one had the feel of a true home game for the Spartans.

CHATTANOOGA (11-8) — Watson 0-2 0-0 0, Saffore 1-2 0-0 2, Bell 1-8 0-0 2, Taylor 8-18 1-2 21, Patterson 3-15 0-1 7, Williams 1-1 0-0 3, Harvey 2-4 0-0 4, Odem 1-3 0-0 2, Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Early 0-3 0-0 0, Jefferson 4-5 0-0 8. Totals 21-61 1-3 49.

UNCG (4-15) — Stywall 5-14 2-3 13, Brown 2-3 2-2 6, Cole 2-5 2-2 6, Koivisto 4-11 5-6 15, Randall 1-8 1-2 3, Sellers 0-0 0-0 0, VanDussen 2-5 0-0 5, Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Toney 3-11 0-0 9, Bone 1-2 1-2 3, Evans 0-0 0-0 0, Jackson 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 21-61 13-17 62.

Halftime—Chattanooga 29-22.
3-point goals—Chattanooga 6-26 (Taylor 4-10, Williams 1-1, Patterson 1-9, Odem 0-2, Bell 0-4), UNCG 7-28 (Toney 3-10, Koivisto 2-9, Stywall 1-2, VanDussen 1-3, Cole 0-1, Smith 0-1, Randall 0-2).
Fouled out—None. Rebounds—Chattanooga 39 (Patterson, Saffore, Watson 7), UNCG 39 (Stywall 15).
Assists—Chattanooga 11 (Early, Odem, Taylor, Williams 2), UNCG 10 (Randall 6).
Total fouls—Chattanooga 18, UNCG 12.
Technical—Chattanooga Bench.
A—2,632.