GREENVILLE, S.C.— Furman got 21 points and eight rebounds from Amu Saaka and overcame a 17-point first half deficit to defeat UNCG 72-64 in Southern Conference men's basketball Thursday night at Timmons Arena.
The Spartans (5-17, 4-7 Southern) saw a 17-point first-half lead slip away as they missed 20 of 21 shots from the floor in a 16-minute span. UNCG led 34-17 with 4:12 to play in the opening half. But the Spartans went 10 minutes, 11 seconds between baskets -- spanning the end of the first half and start of the second half.
The Spartans had four scorers in double-figures, led by Kendall Toney with 17 points. Ben Stywall had his 11th double-double of the season, with 12 points and 13 rebounds. He leads the conference and has five double-doubles in his last six games.
Kyle Randall added 14 points and five assists, while Mikko Koivisto had 11 points, all in the first half, for UNCG.
Furman (11-11, 5-6) also got 17 points from Jordan Miller and 12 from Justin Dehm.
Trailing by 12, UNCG cut the margin in half with 1:48 to go on back-to-back 3-pointers by Toney. Randall's conventional three-point play with 30.2 seconds left made it a three-point game, 67-64. But Miller knocked down five of six from the free-throw line for Furman in the final 30 seconds.
UNCG (5-17) — Stywall 4-11 4-9 12, Brown 0-1 2-2 2, Koivisto 3-9 2-3 11, Randall 5-12 4-5 14, Toney 5-14 2-2 17, VanDussen 1-4 0-0 2, Smith 0-0 2-2 2, Bone 2-4 0-2 4, Cole 0-3 0-0 0, Jackson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-58 16-25 64.
FURMAN (11-11) — Barnes 2-7 0-3 4, Toler 1-3 1-2 3, Evans 2-4 0-0 6, Miller 3-10 9-10 17, Saaka 8-13 4-4 21, Dehm 5-8 1-1 12, Duval 0-0 0-0 0, States 2-4 0-1 5, Sebirumbi 2-3 0-0 4, Co.Reddick 0-0 0-1 0. Totals 25-52 15-22 72.
Halftime—UNCG 36-27.
3-point goals—UNCG 8-20 (Toney 5-11, Koivisto 3-7, Randall 0-1, Bone 0-1), Furman 7-19 (Evans 2-4, Miller 2-6, States 1-2, Saaka 1-3, Dehm 1-3, Barnes 0-1).
Fouled out—None.
Rebounds—UNCG 37 (Stywall 13), Furman 37 (Saaka 8).
Assists—UNCG 12 (Randall 5), Furman 12 (Evans, States 3).
Total fouls—UNCG 23, Furman 21.
A—1,041.
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