GREENSBORO, N.C. - The Samford men's basketball team battled a tough UNC Greensboro squad to the wire before falling, 61-58 Saturday afternoon at the Greensboro Coliseum.
 
With the loss, Samford falls to 11-8 overall and 1-6 in Southern Conference play. UNC Greensboro improves to 11-8 overall and 3-4 in league play.
 
Samford was led in the loss by Ques Glover and Logan Dye with 14 points each. Jaron Rillie added 10 points for the Bulldogs. Wesley Cardet pulled down 11 rebounds for Samford.

"This was one of our better games of the year defensively," Samford head coach Bucky McMillan said. "We held Greensboro, who won the SoCon last year, to 36 percent from the field. That's about as well as you can do defensively, especially without Jermaine (Marshall), one of our better defenders. I was really pleased with the effort. I was pleased that when we got down in the game, we came all the way back and had it to a single-digit game late. We'll have our opportunities at home, we've been on the road here for a while and we've been short handed. But, it's going to be a positive for us because a lot of guys are getting a lot of great experience and when we get everybody back together, I think we can be pretty dang good."
 
For UNCG, Keyshaun Langley led the way with 15 points. De'Monte Buckingham added 13 points for the Spartans.
 
UNCG jumped out to an early 6-3 lead with 17:00 to go in the first half after a dunk by Ban Leyte. The Spartans built an 11-5 lead, but Samford fought back to cut the lead to one at 18-17 with 8:14 left in the first half after a three-pointer by Cooper Kaifes.
 
With Samford trailing, 20-19, UNCG went on an 8-0 run to take a 28-19 lead at the 5:24 mark in the first half following a three-pointer by Buckingham. The Spartans pushed their lead to 12 points at 33-21 with 3:14 remaining in the first half after a dunk by Kobe Langley. Samford scored seven of the last nine points of the half to cut the UNCG lead to 35-28 at halftime.
 
After UNCG pushed its lead to 10 points at 38-28 early in the second half, Samford went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 38-34 with 16:08 to go following a free throw by Cardet. The Spartans pushed their lead back out to seven points at 41-34 with 15:13 to go after a three-pointer by Kaleb Hunter.
 
The Spartans extended their lead back to 10 points at 53-43 with 10:31 to go after a three-pointer by Langley. With Samford trailing, 55-46, the Bulldogs went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to two points at 55-53 with 2:58 to go on a three-pointer by Dye. After UNCG built the lead back to 59-53, Rillie nailed a three-pointer to cut the lead to 59-56 with 15 seconds to go. A pair of late free throws by UNCG's Buckingham helped the Spartans hold on for the 61-58 win.
 
Samford will return home to host the Mercer Bears on Wednesday, Jan. 26. The game is set for a 7 p.m. start from the Pete Hanna Center.


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