University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics
Duquesne
Duquesne Holds Off Spartans In Upstate's Home Opener
11/25/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 25, 2008
Spartanburg, S.C. -
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"Did we get better? Yes. But we shot ourselves in the foot every time we had a chance."
Eddie Payne, Upstate
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Duquesne remained perfect on the season with the win, improving to 4-0 on the year. Upstate is now 0-4 after starting the season with games against Georgia (SEC), Notre Dame (Big East), South Carolina (SEC) and Duquesne (A-10). The Spartans play two early A-Sun conference games at the beginning of next week. Upstate will play back-to-back road games at Kennesaw State on Monday and Mercer on Tuesday to facilitate the last week of classes prior to the start of exams.
More than 1,200 rowdy Spartan fans showed up to get a glimpse of the 2008-09 Upstate men's basketball team and the crowd had plenty to cheer about, especially in the second half. However, Duquesne kept the crowd uneasy for most of the first half until the Spartans made a late run to get back into the game by halftime.
Duquesne shot 60 percent from the field in the first half, including 8-of-13 from the three-point arc. The Dukes' hot shooting, especially from Jason Duty, allowed Duquesne to open a 14-point lead just 5:37 into the game. After Upstate cut the lead to five, Duty sank a pair of three-pointers as Duquesne pushed the lead to 15. Upstate, though, would not be deterred in its home opener and closed out the half by outscoring Duquesne 19-8 to cut the 15-point Dukes lead to four, 44-40.
Duty finished the first half with 17 points, eclipsing his previous career-high of six. While Duty was the catalyst for Duquesne, De'Marion Gordon keyed Upstate's late-half run and finished with 11 points in the first 20 minutes of play.
"Their start was good. They were very opportunistic and shot the ball very well every time they needed to make a bucket," said Upstate head coach Eddie Payne on Duquesne's hot start to the game.
Duquesne played solid defense coming out of the locker room to start the second half. The Dukes held Upstate scoreless for the first 2:52 and built a nine-point advantage. That's when Bobby Davis and the Spartans made a push to get back in the game and gave themselves a chance to win. Upstate made the run with defense and turned a hot-shooting Duquesne team into a unit struggling from the field. The Spartans held the Dukes to 31.8 percent shooting from the floor in the second half.
"I thought we were better defensively in the second half," said Payne. "We caused them to take tough shots and miss some shots and put ourselves in a position to win the game. That was a good thing. We got stops and got possessions, we just gave the ball back to them."
Upstate went on a 9-2 run over the next three minutes to cut the nine-point deficit to two with 14:33 to play. Davis had six of the nine points in the run, while Gabor Boros connected on a three-pointer as Upstate trailed, 51-49.
Davis sank a layup and was fouled on the play to get the Spartans within two at 51-49, but missed the ensuing free throw. Mezie Uzochukwu came up with the offensive rebound and Josh Chavis' three-pointer hit off the rim as Upstate tried for its first lead of the game. It would be one of five times Upstate had possession of the ball with the chance to tie or take the lead and could not pull through.
"Every time we had a chance to do something to tie the score or go ahead, we turned it over," said Payne. "That's a function of two things, youth and having played games on the road that we couldn't win. They were 3-0 and we were 0-3 and haven't been in a position to win. When we got in there we didn't know what to do. That's a function of our schedule and what we are doing, as well as our youth. Did we get better? Yes. But we shot ourselves in the foot every time we had a chance."
The Duquesne lead fluctuated between three and seven points for the next seven minutes. With Duquesne leading, 65-58, with 7:54 to play in the game, Upstate made one last push to battle for the lead. Nick Schneiders got things going with a short jumper and Davis' jumper followed to get Upstate within three with 5:58 to play.
Davis converted an old fashion three-point play with a layup and free throw to get the Spartans within two with 5:38 to play. Duquesne missed two shots and Upstate had two straight chances to tie the game or take the lead. However, the Spartans fell victim to a missed three-pointer and a turnover on the possessions. Duquesne pushed the lead to six points on Damian Saunders' three-pointer with 3:20 to play and Upstate got no closer the rest of the way as the Dukes held on for the win.
Saunders was solid all night for Duquesne and finished with a double-double while collecting 20 points and 12 rebounds. Duty was held scoreless in the second half and finished with 17, while Aaron Jackson had an impressive all-around game with 15 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.
Davis was simply dominant in the paint for Upstate. He led the team with 24 points, tying his career-high set against Kennesaw State on Feb. 8, 2008 of last season. He also added six rebounds, four assists and two steals for the Spartans. Gordon added a career-high 11 points as the only other Spartan to finish in double figures. Uzochukwu added a solid eight points and six boards, while Schneiders finished with six points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots.
"We just turned it over too many times in the end and gave them the game," said Davis. "We kept fighting, tried to make some stops, and we did a good job. We just made too many mistakes. I just tried to go to the rim strong. I didn't think they (Duquesne) could guard me and I thought my team needed me to step up."
