Feb 2, 2002

Final Stats

GREENSBORO, N.C. - UNC Greensboro drained all six of its free throws inside the final 30 seconds as the Spartans held off Western Carolina for an 80-75 victory on Saturday afternoon at Fleming Gym on a Fox Sports Net television broadcast.

UNC Greensboro (14-7, 7-3 SoCon) led by 15 with 8:39 remaining in the second half, but Western Carolina (11-10, 5-5 SoCon) used a 16-6 run to pull within five (64-59). Cory Largent capped the run with a steal and a layup with 4:48 left in the game.

Western Carolina trimmed its deficit to three (78-75) after Kevin Martin hit a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left, but UNCG's Ronnie Taylor made two free throws with eight seconds left to seal the game.

Martin was 5-for-10 from 3-point range and had 34 points for the game. The Zanesville, Ohio, native had 15 of Western's 26 points at halftime. The Cats trailed 34-26 at the break and only shot 24 percent from the field.

Martin led WCU's second-half comeback, scoring 19 points in the frame. Largent also spurred the Cats' second-half surge with 16 of his 18 points coming in the frame. The duos second-half performances helped Western shoot nearly 60 percent from the field in the period.

Kelvin Wylie had a career-high 14 rebounds as the Catamounts out-rebounded UNCG 45-27, marking the third consecutive game Western has won the battle of the boards.

Jay Joseph scored a season-high 21 points to lead the Spartans. David Schuck and James Maye had 16 points each for UNC-Greensboro.

The Spartans came out firing on all cylinders as they took a 19-6 lead at the halfway point of the first half. Western Carolina cut the lead to five, 21-16, just four minutes later. The Spartans answered that run with a 12-3 run of their own, to extend their lead to 14, 33-18. Just when it looked like the Spartans were set to pull away, Western's Martin went on an 8-0 run of his own, with two 3-pointers and a pair of free throws. James Maye hit a free throw to end the first half scoring, 34-26.

Once again, the Spartans answered the call and extended their lead to as much as 16 on two occasions in the second stanza and leading by 15 (58-43) with 8:39 to go. Largent scored eight points over a three minute span to make it a five-point game --?64-59 in UNCG's favor with 4:48 left. Western would get as close as three, 78-75, before Taylor's game-winning free throws.

Western Carolina will return home to the Ramsey Center to host East Tennessee State on Monday (Feb. 4) at 7 pm.