Buckingham’s Buckets Lift UNCG Past North Carolina A&T
from www.uncgspartans.com:
GREENSBORO, N.C. – De’Monte Buckingham made his UNC Greensboro (UNCG) debut one to remember by tying a career-high with 28 points to help the Spartans rally past North Carolina A&T, 57-53, at the Greensboro Coliseum Tuesday in the season-opener for both programs.
Playing with determination and fire, Buckingham was special from beginning to end.
The Cal State-Bakersfield transfer made nine of 15 shots from the field, including two gigantic 3-pointers in the final five minutes that gave UNCG the juice it needed to finish strong and make a 10-point deficit disappear.
First-year UNCG head coach Mike Jones loves talking about the juice. It’s one of the core tenets of his program. Buckingham supplied that and a whole lot more to light up an electric crowd of 6,948 fans.
He bolstered the Spartans winning edge with a 3-pointer from in front of the Spartan bench with 3:01 remaining that gave UNCG the lead for good, 51-49. Buckingham delivered an encore triple 44 seconds later to push the Spartans into a four-point lead and send the crowd into a frenzy.
Mohammed Abdulsalam added eight points and 11 rebounds for the Spartans.
Justin Watson and Tyler Maye finished with 17 points each for North Carolina A&T.