Feb. 21, 2009

Box Score

Buies Creek, N.C. - USC Upstate opened an 11-point lead in the second half, but could not hold onto its advantage as Campbell closed the final 10:09 on a 21-8 run to rally for a 51-47 victory in A-Sun men's basketball action in Gore Arena Saturday afternoon.

Upstate fell to 7-20 overall and 6-12 in the A-Sun with the loss. The Spartans return home to close out the A-Sun schedule with games against Mercer Thursday night at 7:30 and Kennesaw State Saturday afternoon at 1:00. Campbell improved to 12-15 overall and 9-9 in the league.

Upstate scored the first six points of the second half on a three-pointer from Chavis and a free throw and bucket from Nick Schneiders to push its lead to 10 points, 34-24, with 16:35 to play in the game. Upstate looked in command and in position to take its second-straight win over the Camels in Buies Creek. It looked even more possible for a Spartan victory as the lead grew to 11, 37-26, on a free throw by Pat Posey.

However, Campbell had other plans. The Fighting Camels used a 14-3 run over the next seven minutes to tie the game at 40 with 4:17 to play. The teams would battle back and forth the rest of the way.

Chavis broke the tie with a three-pointer, but Jonathan Rodriguez got the Camels within one with a pair of free throws. After an Upstate turnover, Rodriguez's layup gave Campbell a 44-43 lead with 3:30 to play. Schneiders tied the game with a free throw 31 seconds later, but Kyle Vejraska's three-pointer gave Campbell a 47-44 lead with 2:44 to play.

Bobby Davis nailed a jumper and converted the free throw after being fouled on the play to tie the game at 47. However, it would be the last points the Spartans would score. After Campbell's Matt Gwynne missed a three-pointer, Upstate committed a turnover on the next possession. Campbell also turned the ball over on its next possession, but Upstate could not capitalize as the Spartans missed a shot for the lead with 40 seconds to play.

Campbell held for a late shot and Vejraska's three-point attempt with six seconds to play rattled off the rim. However, Gabor Boros was called for a foul battling Rodriguez for the rebound and Rodriguez converted both free throws with two seconds to play to give Campbell a 49-47 lead. Preston Dodson intercepted a long inbounds pass and converted both of his free throws with a second to play for the final margin.

Davis led Upstate with 14 points and five rebounds. Schneiders added six points, six boards, three assists and three blocked shots. Chavis finished with nine points. Lorne Merthie led Campbell with 10 points, while Rodriguez added eight points and seven rebounds.

Upstate held Campbell to 32 percent shooting from the field and 29 percent from the three-point arc. However, the Spartans shot just 37 percent from the field, including 26 percent in the second half, and committed 20 turnovers leading to 23 Campbell points for the difference in the game.

"I thought that we didn't play well offensively in the second half," said Upstate head coach Eddie Payne. "We had to maintain a margin throughout the game. I thought there were four key plays in the last 3:46 that all went against us and hurt our effort. It was a different game, they changed defenses a lot on us. For the most part, we handled everything well, we just had four plays that made a difference in the game."

After battling back and forth for the first eight minutes of the game, Upstate wrestled a 12-10 lead away from Campbell on De'Marion Gordon's three-pointer with 11:53 to play in the first half. The Spartans would not trail again until 3:30 remaining in the game.

Following Gordon's three-pointer, Chavis nailed a three-pointer to give the Spartans a five-point cushion and Upstate eventually took a 28-24 lead into the intermission. The lead could have been more, but the Spartans committed 10 turnovers in the half that led to 10 Campbell points. Davis was strong in the half, finishing with 10 points to lead the Spartan attack that saw seven different players score.