December 28, 2017 (GREENSBORO, N.C.) – Dwayne Bacon scored a franchise record 45 points on Thursday night at the Fieldhouse at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex as the Greensboro Swarm suffered a 125-115 setback to the Wisconsin Herd. Greensboro (8-13) and Wisconsin (13-8) split its two games in three days.
Bacon's record night came on 18-of-40 shooting, including 6-for-15 on three pointers. Bacon, assigned to Greensboro from the Charlotte Hornets earlier in the day, had 22 of those points in the second quarter – hitting on 9-of-15 shots. He ended with nine rebounds, five assists and two steals to go with his offensive outburst in 38 minutes of action.
The Herd were led by a duo of forwards, Cliff Alexander and James Young. Alexander had a team-high 29 points with eight rebounds off the bench in 27 minutes of action. Young added 28 points on 10-of-19 shooting to go with four rebounds.
Wisconsin held a 69-56 lead at the half after shooting a blistering 56.5 percent from the field. The Greensboro defense tightened up in the second half, holding the Herd to nearly 40 percent in the final 24 minutes. Despite the improvement the Swarm played catchup the entirety of the second half, coming within one-possession on several occasions.
The Swarm had guard Marcus Paige score 20 points with five assists, five rebounds and two steals. Center Mangok Mathiang collected his fifth double-double with 18 points and a career-high tying 16 rebounds.
Wisconsin had guard Xavier Munford (19 points), guard Shannon Brown (15) and center Cameron Oliver (10) all score double figures. Munford had 11 assists for a double-double, while Oliver grabbed 18 boards for his.
Greensboro hits the road for one game before flipping the calendar to 2018. The Swarm and the Iowa Wolves tip at 8:30 p.m. ET at the Wells Fargo Arena on Saturday, December 30.
