Dec. 14, 2009

Final Stats

Spartanburg, S.C. - Upstate point guard Josh Chavis put on a show in the Hodge Center Monday night in the Spartans' A-Sun tilt with Florida Gulf Coast. In the end, he sank a school record 10 three-pointers, but FGCU used strong offensive games from Reed Baker and Anthony Banks to take an 86-82 victory.

Chavis' 10 three-pointers topped the old record of nine shared by Jay Free and Nathan Norman. Free sank nine against Mars Hill on November 28, 2006, while Norman sank nine against Lander on Jan. 4, 1995. Chavis' game-high 34 points also was a career-high for the junior out of Greensboro, N.C., and established a new single-game Division I school record.

"I was able to knock down some open shots," said Chavis. "I didn't force my shot, I just took the shots that came to me when I was open. I was hitting everything in pregame warm-ups and I was telling myself that I wanted to carry that over into the game. I guess I was able to do that. But, I would trade the record to have gotten the win tonight.

"We knew they were going to clog up the middle to make things tough for Nick (Schneiders) and that was going to open things up for us."

"Josh had a monster game and he is one tired guy," said Upstate head coach Eddie Payne. "He just did it the entire game and even when he was dead tired."

While Chavis electrified the Hodge Center faithful, he was not the only one to achieve notoriety on the night. Upstate's Nick Schneiders blocked a shot just 1:15 into the game to move into sole possession of the Spartans' career blocked shots record. He also tied a single-game school record and personal career high with seven blocks on the night. Carter Cook finished with a career-high 16 points. A pair of FGCU players established career highs as well, with Baker scoring 27 points and Banks notching 21.

Upstate fell to 1-7 overall and 1-1 in the A-Sun with the loss. The Spartans return to action Wednesday night when in-state rival Winthrop comes to the Hodge Center for a 7:00 p.m. tip. FGCU improved to 2-6 overall and 1-0 in its A-Sun season opener with the win. The Eagles travel to N.C. Central Wednesday night.

"We did enough things to get close," said Payne. "We showed some character. But, we made some mistakes that caused us to lose the game. We just didn't do enough things to win the game and we didn't do a good job of keeping the ball out of Baker's hands late. We didn't get Nick enough touches in the second half. We need to throw him the ball more. We have tried to emphasize that and we will continue to do that. Defensively, we are not going to win games with the score in the 80's, so we have to work on that."

On a night when Upstate recognized local firefighters and other public service organizations for their work in keeping the area safe, the nets were on fire in the Hodge Center. Upstate shot 52 percent from the three-point arc, led by Chavis, who finished 10-for-14 from downtown. The Spartans also shot a respectable 44 percent from the field and was 72 percent from the free throw line. But, FGCU was up to the task as well, hitting 46 percent from the field, 53 percent from the arc and 71 percent from the free throw line to take the win.

Upstate and FGCU fought each other for most of the first half in what was a physical matchup. Leading 16-12 with 9:41 to play in the first half, the Eagles used a 12-4 spurt over the next three minutes to open a 12-point advantage, 28-16. Trailing by 14 with 3:05 to play in the half, Upstate made a furious comeback to cut the lead to two at the intermission. Chavis nailed three three-pointers and converted a pair of free throws in the final three minutes to push the Spartans on a 17-5 run as Upstate fought back to within two, 41-39, at the half.

Chavis' three-pointer at the 18:48 mark of the second half gave Upstate a 42-41 lead, its first since the 12:23 mark of the first half. There were seven more lead changes the rest of the game as the teams countered each other's big shots with big shots of their own.

Upstate opened a four-point lead, 49-45, on a Chavis three-ball with 16:34 to play in the game for the Spartans' biggest lead of the contest. However, Banks converted a layup and Baker nailed a three-pointer to spark a 7-0 run as FGCU took a three-point lead with 15:06 to play. The Eagles' lead grew to four points with 12:24 to play, but Upstate fought back to tie the game at 61-61 with 8:40 remaining on Chavis' eighth three-pointer of the night.

Chavis hit his record-tying ninth three-pointer to give Upstate a 64-61 lead with 7:47 to play. FGCU again answered with a 6-0 spurt with Baker converting four free throws and Banks hitting a short jumper. Banks converted an three-point play with a bucket and a free throw to start a 6-0 run that propelled the Eagles to a 74-66 lead with 2:54 to play.

Upstate, though, was not done. Still trailing by eight with 1:28 to play, Upstate used two three-pointers and a layup from Cook to cut the deficit to three with 44 seconds to play. Chavis nailed his 10th three-pointer of the game while drifting out of bounds in the corner in front of the Upstate bench to get the Spartans within two, 82-80, with 24 seconds to play, but Reggie Chambers made two free throws with 22 seconds remaining and Banks converted a dunk with five seconds left as FGCU held off Upstate for the win. Cook scored 12 of his 16 points in the final 2:31 to help Upstate make a furious run at FGCU late in the game.

Chambers, the reigning A-Sun Player of the Week, was overshadowed by the performances of Baker and Banks. However, he finished with a strong 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists to help lead FGCU to the win. Derrick O'Neil added nine points, five rebounds and four assists for the Eagles.

Pat Posey narrowly missed a double-double for Upstate, finishing with eight points and a career-high nine rebounds to go along with a career-high four assists. Schneiders finished with eight points and eight rebounds to go along with his seven blocked shots.

Game Notes:
• Nick Schneiders became Upstate's all-time blocked shots leader and now has 143 in his career, surpassing the old mark of 136 held by Kevin Harrington (2000-04).
• Josh Chavis' 10 three-pointers set a single-game school record for Upstate, eclipsing the old mark of nine shared by Jay Free (Nov. 28, 2006) and Nathan Norman (Jan. 4, 1995).
• Josh Chavis scored a career-high 34 points, eclipsing the previous Division I single-game school record of 33 scored by Bobby Davis last year against Mercer on Feb. 26.
• Carter Cook scored a career-high 16 points.
• Nick Schneiders' seven blocks tied the single-game school record and matched his own career high.
• Pat Posey grabbed a career-high nine rebounds and dished out a career-high four assists.
• FGCU's Reed Baker scored a career-high 27 points.
• FGCU's Anthony Banks scored a career-high 21 points.
• The game marked the first this season that Upstate reached 80 points. The prior season-high was 78 in the 22-point win over Stetson on Nov. 30.