Box Score AUBURN, Ala. – Despite three different Spartans reaching double figures in scoring on Tuesday night, it was the Auburn Tigers that claimed the 68-54 victory inside Auburn Arena.
USC Upstate (2-9) was led offensively by Tony Dukes (Ellenwood, Ga./Atlanta Metropolitan) Torrey Craig (Rock Hill, S.C./Great Falls) and Chandler Hash (Greer, S.C./Greer HS). Dukes led the Spartans with 13 points behind four three-pointers, while Craig posted 11 and Hash, starting his first collegiate game, scored 11.
With 12:10 remaining in the second-half and the Spartans trailing by four points, Dukes connected on a trey from the left wing to cut the Auburn lead to one at 39-38.
The Tigers (4-7) followed Dukes' three with an 11-0 spurt over a span of 1:54 to push ahead 50-38 with 9:52 to play. The Spartans couldn't get any closer than eight points down the stretch and the Auburn lead grew to as many to 16 in the final two minutes before the final margin was set at 14.
In the first half, Upstate scored the first basket of the game when Ricardo Glenn (Augusta, Ga./Richmond Academy) connected on his layup from the left side of the paint.
The Spartans and the Tigers continued a see-saw battle during the first 12 minutes of the game, as neither team was able to take more than a three-point advantage. Trailing by one point (12-10) with 11:43 remaining, Dukes connected on a three-pointer to give the Spartans their final lead of the night at 13-12.
Auburn extended its lead to seven, 27-20, with 5:08 remaining in the first half, but Upstate continued to battle and cut the deficit to just three, 29-26, as the two teams headed to the locker rooms for halftime. In the first 20 minutes, there were a total of four ties and nine lead changes.
In the first half, Auburn was able to convert 10 Upstate turnovers in to 10 points, helping the Tigers own the halftime lead.
For the game, Auburn made 23 of their 31 free throw attempts (74.2%), while Upstate took just eight free throws and connected on three (37.5%). The Tigers shot 46.3% (19-of-41) from the floor and 38.9% (7-of-18) from three, compared to Upstate's 36.2% mark from the floor (21-for-58) and 29.0% mark from beyond the arc (9-for-31).
Upstate owned the advantage in points in the paint (20-18) and second chance points (13-2), while Auburn led the way in rebounds (34-31), points off of turnovers (15-3), bench points (24-22) and fast break points (6-2).
Four different Tigers reached double figures and were led by Earnest Ross, who came off of the bench to score a game-high 16 for Auburn. Frankie Sullivan finished with 14 points, while Josh Wallace and Kenny Gabriel finished with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
Upstate will return to action after the Christmas break when they travel to Blacksburg, Va., for its final non-conference game of the 2010-11 campaign against Virginia Tech. Tip-off between the Spartans and the Hokies on December 30th is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
