Feb. 14, 2009

Box Score

Nashville, Tenn. - USC Upstate turned in its second-lowest scoring output of the season and Lipscomb was never really challenged after a late first half run as the Bisons took a 77-44 victory over the Spartans Saturday afternoon in A-Sun men's basketball action in Allen Arena.

Upstate fell to 7-17 overall and 6-9 in the A-Sun with the loss. It marked an end to the Spartans' three-game winning streak and allowed Lipscomb to open a three-game winning streak. Upstate's 44 points was the second-lowest scoring output behind the 38 scored in the 55-38 loss at Saint Louis on Dec. 17. Lipscomb improved to 11-13 overall and 7-8 in the league.

"I don't think we competed tonight," said Upstate head coach Eddie Payne. "From the very beginning, we had some guys who weren't ready to play. As a team, we didn't have the right attitude to compete in this game."

Adnan Hodzic started quickly for Lipscomb, scoring the Bisons' first four points and six of nine as Lipscomb opened a 9-4 lead. Despite not scoring for nearly four minutes, Upstate got within two, 10-8, on a baseline jumper from Carter Cook and a 16-foot jumper from Chalmers Rogers.

Lipscomb rattled off seven-straight points to open a nine-point advantage, 17-8, over the next three minutes. The run was part of an overall 15-3 run that gave the Bisons a 14-point lead, 25-11, with 7:29 to play in the half.

Upstate fought back to cut the lead in half, 29-22, but Lipscomb closed out the half with eight unanswered points to take a 15-point advantage, 37-22, into the intermission.

"We came out of the (under-4:00) media timeout down seven and we had a couple of mistakes," said Payne. "The ball got rolling in the wrong direction. We had passes roll out of guys hands. That happens when you're not totally ready to go."

Hodzic was the catalyst in the half, finishing with 13 points as Lipscomb shot 52 percent from the floor. Upstate, on the other hand, shot just 36 percent from the floor. Bobby Davis was also held in check, finishing the half with two points and four rebounds. Pat Posey played nearly nine minutes and gave the Spartans a spark with six points and three rebounds in the first half.

Davis' slam dunk put back to open the second half cut the Lipscomb lead to 13 points. However, Lipscomb outscored the Spartans 16-7 over the next five minutes to extend its lead to 22 points and effectively put the game away.

Michael Teller scored 10 points in the first 10 minutes to lead Lipscomb out of the gates in the second half. He finished with a game-high 20 points with seven steals to lead the Bisons on the day. He was 8-for-8 from the field and 4-for-4 from behind the three-point arc.

The Lipscomb lead grew to 27 after Hodzic converted a pair of free throws with 9:46 to play in the game and the Bisons cruised to the victory the rest of the way. Lipscomb's largest lead of the game was 33, the final margin.

Hodzic finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds for the double-double. Brian Wright and Brandon Brown each finished with nine.

Davis led the Upstate attack, finishing with 15 points and nine rebounds. He scored 13 of his 15 in the second half. He also added two assists and steals. Pat Posey came off the bench and scored nine for the Spartans.