Dec. 14, 2008

Box Score

Chestnut Hill, Mass. - USC Upstate held Boston College's standout guard Tyrese Rice scoreless for just the second time in his career, held a lead for much of the first half and got a strong performance out of Bobby Davis before falling by 12 to the Eagles Sunday afternoon in the Conte Forum.

Upstate fell to 0-7 on the year in the first game of a 12-day road trip that will see the Spartans travel next to Saint Louis, Fresno State and Las Vegas for the four-game Findlay Toyota Las Vegas Classic. The Spartans play Wednesday at Saint Louis in the first game of the tournament. Boston College improved to 8-2 on the year.

"We were in the game and had a chance," said Upstate head coach Eddie Payne. "When you look at all of the factors, it was a pretty even game. We got better over the break. I told the kids we are doing some things to get better and we just need to stay the course, keep focused and keep working and things are going to happen. These guys have done a really good job of that and hopefully they will continue. Other than the score, we had a pretty successful game."

Upstate joined Duke as the only other team to hold Rice scoreless in his career at BC, and that game was during the senior's freshman season in 2005-06. However, Tyler Roche and Joe Trapani stepped up to be keys for BC, and the Eagles needed every bit they could give to down Upstate.

Trapani supplied the early offense for Boston College. He scored the Eagles' first eight points, including two three-pointers. However, Upstate used a balanced scoring attack to match BC early on. De'Marion Gordon's three with 13:58 to play tied the game at 12-12 and Davis' jumper just inside the arc gave the Spartans a 14-12 lead at the 13:27 mark.

After Boston College tied the game at 14-14, Upstate went on a 7-1 run to extend its lead to 21-15 at the 11:34 mark. Gordon had five straight points in the spurt, nailing a three-pointer and coming up with a steal and layup to open the six-point advantage.

BC cut the Upstate lead to three points on a Reggie Jackson three-pointer at the 11:00 mark, but Upstate answered with a Chalmers Rogers free throw and a turnaround jumper by Nick Schneiders to take the Spartan lead back to six points with 8:47 to play before the break.

BC came out of the under eight media timeout with more energy than it had shown in the first 12 minutes of the game. Roche nailed a three-pointer and Cori Raji converted off of an offensive rebound to get the Eagles within one, 24-23. However, Josh Chavis nailed a three-pointer to give the Spartans a four-point advantage.

Upstate grabbed the lead at the 13:21 mark and kept it for most of the rest of the first half. That was until Roche caught fire. He nailed back-to-back three-pointers that turned a 27-26 deficit into a 32-27 lead with 3:32 to play. The spurt coincided with Upstate's inability to score as the Spartans went without a bucket or point from the 6:50 mark until Davis' layup with 2:32 to play. BC took a 34-29 lead at the half.

"I think we executed better (in the first half)," said Payne. "We only turned the ball over three times, we made shots and were even on the glass. We played well for the first 15 minutes and not so good in the last five. We were up five and had two quick shots and before you knew it, they had the lead."

BC's sense of urgency was noticeable as the teams started the second half. The Eagles picked up its intensity on the defensive end of the court, holding Upstate to just one field goal in the first three minutes of play to open a 39-31 lead.

Upstate, though, cut the lead to three, 40-37, on a steal and dunk by Davis with 16:18 to play in the game. However, the Spartans could not get any closer and BC increased its advantage to 11 points by outscoring Upstate 10-2 over the next six minutes. The Eagles took their biggest lead at 12 points after a Biko Paris three-pointer with 8:41 to play and matched it two more times the rest of the way.

Davis had a tremendous game for Upstate, finishing with a team-high 19 points. He tallied a double-double with 13 rebounds and added three steals. Gordon, who had eight points in the first half, finished with 10 for the game and added three assists without a turnover.

Roche finished with a career-high 17 points with five three-pointers to lead Boston College. Trapani added 16, while Raji finished with 13 points and 12 boards for the double-double. He also had four assists for the Eagles.

Upstate held Boston College to 43 percent shooting for the game, but the Eagles made Upstate pay from the three-point arc, connecting on 11-of-23 from long range. Seven of BC's 13 made shots in the first half were from three, while 11 of the Eagles' 23 made shots for the game came from behind the arc.

Upstate shot just 35 percent from the floor for the game and connected on just 4-of-14 from behind the arc. Upstate made 7-of-15 from the free throw line. The Spartans did take care of the ball, finishing with just nine turnovers. Upstate has committed 10 or fewer turnovers in each of the last three games. Upstate forced 14 BC miscues.