Jan. 15, 2010

Final Stats

Spartanburg, S.C. - Playing host to a regionally televised basketball game for the first time ever in the Hodge Center, USC Upstate made a furious rally in the second half and had a shot at the end of the game to tie it, but Ryan LeGates' three-pointer at the buzzer hit off the rim and Mercer escaped with a 60-57 victory over the Spartans Friday night in the A-Sun/CSS Game of the Week.

Upstate rallied from 13 down with 9:14 to play in the game to get within two in front of a capacity crowd of 1,535, but Mercer held off the Spartans for the win. The Bears improved to 9-8 overall and 5-2 in the A-Sun, improving its winning streak to five games. Upstate fell to 1-15 overall and 1-6 in the league with the loss.

Upstate won the battle in several statistical categories, but poor shooting from the field hampered the Spartans throughout the night. Upstate outrebounded Mercer by 12 on the offensive glass, grabbing 19 boards. However, Upstate only turned the 19 rebounds into eight second chance points. The work on the offensive glass also afforded the Spartans 21 more shots than the Bears, but 30 percent shooting from the field and 21 percent from the arc negated the extra opportunities.

"We did everything you need to do to win a basketball game, except put the ball in the hole," said Upstate head coach Eddie Payne. "We started the second half and missed some shots and it wasn't like we were turning the ball over. We just missed some shots. We missed five point-blank layups in the first half.

"I was proud of the guys. I thought we guarded them well. We did a great job on (James) Florence. They really got after it tonight."

Upstate put itself in a whole early in the second half. The Spartans battled Mercer to almost a draw in the first half with the Bears taking a 32-30 lead at halftime. However, Upstate started the second half just 2-for-18 from the field and went without a field goal from the 19:19 mark to the 13:48 mark of the half. Mercer used the inability of Upstate to put the ball in the basket to build a 13-point lead, 50-37, with 9:14 remaining in the game.

With Mercer leading by six with 15:00 left in the game, Upstate center Nick Schneiders headed to the bench. The Bears proceeded to score eight of their next 10 points in the paint to build its 13-point advantage.

Upstate, though, was not done and made a run at Mercer. The Spartans used an 11-0 run over the next 4:35 to cut the deficit to two points, 50-48, with 4:39 to play. Schneiders had seven points during the run to spark Upstate.

However, Upstate missed shots on two straight possessions and Mercer built its lead up to six points with 3:59 to play. Upstate would only get as close as three the rest of the game.

Mercer entered the final minutes of the game having made every free throw attempt it had taken on the night. After Upstate's Carter Cook converted a layup with 16 seconds to play, Jeff Smith was fouled and went to the line. The Bears were a perfect 14-fo-14 from the line for the game. However, Smith missed the front end of the one-and-one and Mezie Uzochukwu pulled down the rebound. Upstate moved the ball up court and found LeGates on the left wing, but his shot was just short and Mercer escaped with the victory.

Mercer broke open a close game in the first half. Leading by one with 7:00 minutes to play before halftime, the Bears used an 8-0 run to open a 30-21 lead with 4:35 to play. In what would be a foreshadowing of the final minutes of the second half, Upstate made a run to cut the lead to two at halftime.

Mercer finished the game shooting 44 percent from the field, but made just 4-of-19 from the three-point arc. The Bears were stout at the line, hitting 14-of-15 from the charity stripe. Upstate shot 30 percent from the floor and 21 percent from the line, while converting just 12-of-20 from the free throw line. The Spartans also turned the ball over a season-low seven times.

Schneiders led all scorers with 21 points to lead Upstate. He also pulled down eight rebounds and blocked four shots. He was the only Spartan to finish in double figures, though.

Three Mercer players finished in double figures. Daniel Emerson led the Bears with his 10th double-double of the season, finishing with 17 points and 12 rebounds. He also dished out three assists on the night. Florence added 15 points, while Smith tallied 10.