NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Torrey Craig (Rock Hill, S.C.) and Ricardo Glenn (Augusta, Ga.) each scored nine points and grabbed six rebounds, but Lipscomb shot 56.3% for the game, including a 61.9% clip in the second half en route to the 71-52 win inside Allen Arena on Thursday night.

Upstate (4-23, 3-14 A-Sun) opened the game on a 5-0 spurt as Glenn scored the first basket of the game, a jumper in the paint at the 19:40 mark.  After a missed three-pointer by Jacob Arnett, the Spartans pushed the lead to five on Craig's triple from the top of the key.

The first half saw a total of four ties and five lead changes as the Spartans took their final lead of the game, 19-18, on Glenn's free throw with 6:43 remaining in the first period. 

Lipscomb (16-10, 11-6) used pressure defense to force several turnovers in the final five minutes of the first half as the Bisons closed the half on an 18-5 run to take a 36-24 lead into the locker room.

The Bisons maintained a double-digit lead for most of the second half and pushed the lead to 18, at 53-35, when Robert Boyd sank a three pointer from the left wing with 10:41 remaining. 

Upstate was able to cut the deficit in half in about two minutes of play thanks to Craig, Babatunde Olumuyiwa (Athens, Ga.) and Chalmers Rogers (Fort Mill, S.C.).  Olumuyiwa started the run with a jumper.  Craig followed with a triple before Rogers sank back-to-back baskets to close the gap to 53-44 with 8:34 to play.

After Upstate's 9-0 spurt, the Bisons responded with a 9-0 run of their on to take a 62-44 lead with 7:01 to go.

Upstate was unable to get any closer than 13 down the stretch and the Bisons claimed the 19 point victory, their largest lead of the game.

Shane Porchea (Dunwoody, Ga.) tied a career-high as he finished with seven points behind a career-high three field goals.  Carter Cook (Clemmons, N.C.) also added seven for the Spartan effort.

Upstate started the game 4-for-5 from the field but finished the game 21-of-57 (36.8%) from the floor and hit just 6 of 21 three point attempts (28.6%). 

The Spartans and Bisons combined for 40 total turnovers, 21 for Lipscomb and 19 for Upstate.  Lipscomb scored 21 points off of turnovers compared to 19 for the Spartans.

Lipscomb also led the way in points in the paint (28-24), fast break points (8-2) and bench points (36-25).  The Spartans owned the advantage in second chance points, 11-7.

Four different Bisons players reached double figures on Thursday.  Josh Slater finished with a triple-double behind 10 points, 12 assists and 10 steals and the Lipscomb guard was just three rebounds shy of a quadruple-double.  Brandon Banes tallied 14 points while Adnan Hodzic and Jordan Burgason each scored 11.

Upstate will continue its music city swing as they battle Belmont on Saturday night at 8:15 p.m.