Kyle Randall swished a 45-foot shot at the final buzzer.
If he and his UNC Greensboro teammates would have made more 15-footers, they could have competed better in a 77-66 loss to North Division top seed Western Carolina in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference basketball tournament Saturday.
UNCG missed 15 of its 34 free throws, irking coach Mike Dement.
“We missed a lot of free throws, and that didn’t help us set our defense,” he said. “These free throws would have kept us around.”
The Spartans also had little answer for WCU junior guard Harouna Mutombo, who led all players with 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Mike Williams added 13 points and Trey Sumler had 12 for the Catamounts (18-14), who face Wofford Appalachian State in a 6 p.m. semifinal today.