Spartans earn shot at SoCon crown vs. ETSU
This was the goal all along. And now here it is.
Top-seeded UNC-Greensboro (25-8) will take on third seed East Tennessee State (26-7) in the championship game of the Southern Conference tournament today at 7 p.m. at the U.S. Cellular Center.
If UNCG wins, it goes to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2001, when upperclassmen named Diante Baldwin, R.J. White, Marvin Smith and Jordy Kuiper were learning their A-B-Cs in elementary school.
Baldwin scored 14 of his team-high 22 points in the decisive second half, as the Spartans held off fifth-seeded Wofford 77-73 in the SoCon semifinals Sunday night.
Wofford (16-17) has won this tournament and gone to the NCAAs four of the last seven years. ETSU played in the SoCon finals last year.
Now here comes The G.
?Ever since we lost last year right here, we set the goal to come back to Asheville and win on Monday,? Smith said. ?We?ve put ourselves in position. Now we?ve got to take care of our bodies and prepare for (ETSU). It?s time to do what we came here to do.?
Smith scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting and grabbed a team-best seven rebounds in the semifinals. But the lanky 6-foot-6 junior?s biggest contribution was defending the heck out of Wofford star Fletcher Magee, the No. 2 scorer in the league this season and a shooter of limitless range.
Magee finished with 22 points, but he did it on 6-of-15 shooting, working hard for every point.
?He?s a tough guy to defend because he can shoot it from just about anywhere,? Smith said. ?I just wanted to make it as difficult as possible for him, contesting his shots and making him work awful hard off screens. You can?t give him too much separation or open looks. You have to pressure him as much as possible.?
Smith will likely do the lion?s share of defensive work on another SoCon star, ETSU guard T.J. Cromer, tonight. Cromer shot 9-of-12 from the 3-point line and scored 41 points in the Bucs? 81-72 win over Samford in the other semfinal.
It?s the third meeting between the Spartans and Buccaneers, who were part of a three-way tie for first place in the regular season. UNCG won both the earlier head-to-head matchups.
A win over ETSU would send the Spartans to the NCAA tournament. But by advancing to the SoCon championship game, UNCG has guaranteed itself of no worse than an NIT berth.
?It means the world to us that we?ve got a chance to play at 7 o?clock (Monday),? said Baldwin, the senior from Greensboro who starred at High Point Christian. ?... We do feel disrespected, and we?ve got to make this conference respect us. But we don?t deserve that respect yet. It?s our first time here, our first championship game. ... We?ve got to keep pushing and earn that respect.?
This was the goal all along. And now here it is.
Top-seeded UNC-Greensboro (25-8) will take on third seed East Tennessee State (26-7) in the championship game of the Southern Conference tournament today at 7 p.m. at the U.S. Cellular Center.
If UNCG wins, it goes to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2001, when upperclassmen named Diante Baldwin, R.J. White, Marvin Smith and Jordy Kuiper were learning their A-B-Cs in elementary school.
Baldwin scored 14 of his team-high 22 points in the decisive second half, as the Spartans held off fifth-seeded Wofford 77-73 in the SoCon semifinals Sunday night.
Wofford (16-17) has won this tournament and gone to the NCAAs four of the last seven years. ETSU played in the SoCon finals last year.
Now here comes The G.
?Ever since we lost last year right here, we set the goal to come back to Asheville and win on Monday,? Smith said. ?We?ve put ourselves in position. Now we?ve got to take care of our bodies and prepare for (ETSU). It?s time to do what we came here to do.?
Smith scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting and grabbed a team-best seven rebounds in the semifinals. But the lanky 6-foot-6 junior?s biggest contribution was defending the heck out of Wofford star Fletcher Magee, the No. 2 scorer in the league this season and a shooter of limitless range.
Magee finished with 22 points, but he did it on 6-of-15 shooting, working hard for every point.
?He?s a tough guy to defend because he can shoot it from just about anywhere,? Smith said. ?I just wanted to make it as difficult as possible for him, contesting his shots and making him work awful hard off screens. You can?t give him too much separation or open looks. You have to pressure him as much as possible.?
Smith will likely do the lion?s share of defensive work on another SoCon star, ETSU guard T.J. Cromer, tonight. Cromer shot 9-of-12 from the 3-point line and scored 41 points in the Bucs? 81-72 win over Samford in the other semfinal.
It?s the third meeting between the Spartans and Buccaneers, who were part of a three-way tie for first place in the regular season. UNCG won both the earlier head-to-head matchups.
A win over ETSU would send the Spartans to the NCAA tournament. But by advancing to the SoCon championship game, UNCG has guaranteed itself of no worse than an NIT berth.
?It means the world to us that we?ve got a chance to play at 7 o?clock (Monday),? said Baldwin, the senior from Greensboro who starred at High Point Christian. ?... We do feel disrespected, and we?ve got to make this conference respect us. But we don?t deserve that respect yet. It?s our first time here, our first championship game. ... We?ve got to keep pushing and earn that respect.?
