Sergio Guerra, Sports Editor/Photographer 

UNCG Men’s Basketball is in the home stretch of the Southern Conference regular season, with only two games left. After a strong, four-game win streak since the beginning of February, the Spartans dropped back-to-back games this past week against Wofford and Western Carolina. The results have left UNCG Men’s Basketball with an 8-8 conference record and sixth in the SoCon standings. Meanwhile, UNCG Women’s Basketball is drawing to a close after an overall disappointing SoCon regular season that sees the team sitting 3-10 after a six-game losing streak, with the most recent loss coming to Chattanooga. 

Men’s Basketball Drops Back-to-Back Games 

The Spartans played two matches this past week. The first was on Wednesday, February 18^th, where UNCG traveled to face the Western Carolina Catamounts. The Catamounts outscored the Spartans in both halves and would end the match with a 91-77 win to improve to 7-8 in conference play. 

Justin Neely paced UNCG with a career-high 35 points, notching eight rebounds and four assists. Noah Norgaard and KJ Younger also reached double-digit point tallies with 13 and 10 points respectively. A special mention has to go to Clinton Efinda, who scored 11 points off the bench. Efinda has continued to mature into a pivotal rotational piece, demonstrating clinical efficiency (80% from the field).  

After a disappointing loss to the Catamounts, the Spartans returned to Bodford Arena for the last time this season to face off against SoCon leaders ETSU on February 21^st. UNCG looked to bounce back from its first loss in February, while ETSU looked to clinch the Southern Conference regular season title.  

Outscoring the Spartans in both halves, ETSU would claim the SoCon Regular Season title with a final score of 87-75. Four Spartans were able to climb into double-digit point tallies with KJ Younger’s 20-point performance leading the way. However, UNCG’s eight points off the bench was a drop in the bucket compared to ETSU’s 28 bench points. Clinton Efinda once again led in bench scoring with seven, but it wasn’t enough to carry the hosts over the line. 

The result dropped UNCG’s record to 8-8 in SoCon play with two matches left to play against Chattanooga (Feb. 26^th) and Samford (Feb. 28^th). Despite losing back-to-back games, UNCG still has a chance to improve its record to 10-8, which could carry the team into the top four in the Southern Conference standings. The Southern Conference Tournament kicks off on March 6^th in Asheville, NC. 

Women’s Basketball Struggles 

UNCG Women’s Basketball has faced a lot of difficulties this season, as the side sits 3-10 in conference play – a far cry from last year’s regular season and tournament championships. Most recently, the Spartans faced Chattanooga on February 21^st and lost 56-54 after being outscored by 10 points in the fourth quarter.  

Jeni Levine led the Spartans as the only player to break into double-digit point tallies with 15 points. On the other end of the court, Rylan Moffitt and Mia Simpson led Greensboro in rebounds with four each.  

UNCG Women’s Basketball will play its final match of the regular season on the road against the Western Carolina Catamounts on Saturday, February 28^th. After that, the Southern Conference Tournament kicks off Wednesday, March 5 in Asheville, NC.