Jan. 10, 2009

Box Score

Fort Myers, Fla. - Josh Chavis led USC Upstate in scoring with 18 points, but a lackluster defensive performance by the Spartans spelled the difference as Florida Gulf Coast grabbed control of the game with a run late in the first half and would not relinquish it as the Eagles took an 80-56 A-Sun victory Saturday afternoon in Alico Arena.

Upstate fell to 2-12 overall and 1-4 in the A-Sun with the loss. The Spartans travel to DeLand, Fla., Monday night to take on Stetson. Florida Gulf Coast improved to 7-10 overall and 3-3 in the league with the win.

Five FGCU players finished in double figures in the game, led by Kyle Marks and Reggie Chambers who each poured in 16 for the Eagles. Reed Baker and Delvin Franklin added 11 points for the Eagles, while Ed Rolax finished with 10.

"I thought our competitiveness and toughness was very poor," said Upstate head coach Eddie Payne. "They got us back on our heels and slugged us a few times and we didn't punch back. It was arguably the worst competitive game we have played in two years in Division I."

Behind the scoring outburst of Chavis, Upstate opened a 10-4 lead with 15:32 to play in the half. Chavis nailed two three-pointers and added a layup as well to score eight of the Spartans' first 10 points. Despite the hot start by Chavis, things began to fall apart for Upstate after the first media timeout. FGCU battled back by outscoring the Spartans 13-2 to open a 15-12 lead with 11:17 to play before halftime.

After FGCU opened an eight-point advantage, 22-14, with 9:12 to play, Upstate rallied to outscore the Eagles 6-3 over the next four minutes and cut the Eagle lead to 25-20. The Upstate Spurt, though, was answered as the Eagles finished off the half with a 13-4 run to take a 38-24 lead at halftime.

Upstate committed 11 turnovers in the first half leading to 11 FGCU points off turnovers. Chavis finished the half with 10 points and no other Spartan had any more than four in the opening 20 minutes. Kyle Marks and Reggie Chambers each had 11 points to lead FGCU in the half.

Upstate made a concerted effort to pound the ball down low to start the second half. Bobby Davis and Nick Schneiders scored the Spartans' first five points of the half, but FGCU countered with solid play to keep the Spartans at bay as the 14-point Eagle lead grew to 17 points with 15:32 to play. Despite the effort to get the ball inside early in the second half, Davis and Schneiders finished with a combined 16 points for the game.

"Our guards have to be able to take care of the ball and get it inside. That's the only way we are going to compete," said Payne.

Upstate could not get much going the rest of the way, other than Chavis' continued ability to sink the three-pointer, as Florida Gulf Coast opened a 62-39 lead with 12:08 to play in the game. The Eagle lead reached 26 points midway through the half as FGCU went on for the win.

Upstate finished the game shooting 36 percent from the floor, hitting 9-of-25 shots in both halves to finish 18-of-50 for the game. The Spartans were just 4-of-22 from behind the three-point arc. Conversely, FGCU hit nearly 53 percent of its shots in the second half and finished the game shooting 46 percent from the floor, hitting 25-of-54 from the field. The Eagles were also a solid 8-of-19 from the three-point arc and made 22-of-27 from the free throw line.

FGCU forced Upstate into 16 turnovers in the game and scored 23 points off Spartan miscues.

Davis finished with his seventh double-double of the season, and fifth in the last six games, with 10 points and 10 rebounds despite being relegated to the bench for a large chunk of the second half with foul trouble. Three other Spartans added six points each, while Mezie Uzochukwu finished with eight rebounds, three assists and two steals to go along with four points.