Buckingham and Leyte lead UNCG against Mercer
Courtesy UNCG Athletics / January 21, 2022
De’Monte Buckingham
Bas Leyte added eight points and eight rebounds for the Spartans, who scored 20 points in the paint. Kaleb Hunter finished with six points and five rebounds in 24 entertaining minutes.
Kobe Langley contributed six assists and three steals. Langley averaged 6.5 assists for UNCG during this two-game road trip.
The Spartan defense played with fervor and focus. For UNCG, this was the fifth time in its last six games it held an opponent below 60 points. The Spartans also finished with 10 steals, the second time in the last four games it finished with double digits in that category.
UNCG head coach Mike Jones said, “Defensively we competed and executed well enough to give ourselves a chance to win the game. On the other side of the ball, we did not. We had some great looks. Didn’t make them. We had some great opportunities inside and we didn’t finish. It made it tough and we didn’t get to the free-throw line as much as we’d like to. We were not patient enough to get the kind of shots we wanted and persistent enough to execute well and make them foul us. We have to continue to trust and share, and when we do, we’ll get great shots and whether they go or not, we have to understand that’s really good offense and that’s going to give us a chance to score more.”
