Box Score (.pdf)

Spartanburg, S.C. – Deion Holmes scored a career-high 22 points on Friday, but strong free-throw shooting down the stretch gave the Georgia Southern Eagles an 84-80 victory over the USC Upstate men's basketball team as part of the Palmetto State Shootout inside the Hodge Center.

Upstate falls to 0-6 on the season while Georgia Southern improves to 2-3 overall.

Holmes scored 22 points after going 5-for-12 from the field, 4-for-8 behind the three-point line and a perfect 8-for-8 at the charity stripe. His previous career high was 20 points, accomplished earlier this week against Winthrop. Josh Cuthbertson scored 14 points and had six assists, with Jacob Schulte adding 11. Jure Span scored a career-high 11 points. Mike Cunningham also finished in double-figures with 10 points. Marvin Smith had a game-high 10 rebounds.

Jake Allsmiller led Georgia Southern with 18 points, followed by Ike Smith with 17 and Tookie Brown 16. Devonte Boykins finished with 10 points. Mike Hughes contributed a team-high five rebounds.

The first half featured seven ties and seven lead changes. Georgia Southern went on a 5-0 run to claim an early 13-8 lead at the 14:10 mark, but the Spartans answered with a Holmes three-pointer and a Philip Whittington layup to tie the game at 13-13 with 13:04 to go in the half. Montae Glenn completed a three-point play to give the Eagles a 30-22 lead at the 9:07 mark. Upstate responded with a 15-6 run capped by another three from Holmes to give the home team a 37-36 lead with 3:08 to play. Smith's dunk with 26 seconds remaining sent Upstate into halftime with a 47-45 lead. The Spartans finished the first half with a 60.9% shooting percentage and went 8-for-11 from behind the three-point line.

Brown gave the Eagles a 50-49 lead following a pair of free throws at the 16:53 mark of the second half, only to be answered by consecutive layups from Cuthbertson for a 53-52 lead at the 15:04 mark. Upstate went on a 7-0 run capped by a Cunningham three-pointer to give it a 64-59 lead with 10:53 remaining. Georgia Southern chipped away at the Spartan advantage and retook the lead, 67-66, following a Boykins layup with 7:10 to go. After a Glenn layup gave the Eagles a 76-73 lead with 3:11 to go, Cunningham tied the contest at 76 courtesy of his triple.

Following a pair of successful free throws from Hughes to give GSU a 78-76 edge, Cuthbertson sank a jumper with 1:31 to play to tie the game 78-78.

Smith was fouled with 59 seconds remaining and made both of his free throws, followed by a jumper with nine seconds to play that just beat the shot clock to put Georgia Southern in front 82-78. Cunningham got the Spartans to within two, 82-80, following a layup with five seconds left. Brown was fouled on the ensuing inbounds play and made both of his free throws to seal the 84-80 win for the Eagles.

Upstate was 25-for-51 from the field (49.0%) while Georgia Southern finished 27-for-59 (45.8%). The Spartans were 11-for-21 (52.4%) from behind the arc compared to 14-for-30 (46.7%) by Georgia Southern. The Eagles missed two free throws as they finished 16-for-18 (88.9%) while Upstate went 19-for-23 (82.6%). The Spartans dominated on the boards holding a 42-22 advantage, including a 26-14 edge on the defensive glass.

The game featured 16 lead changes and 12 ties with neither team holding more than an eight-point lead throughout the contest.

Upstate continues play in the Palmetto State Shootout Saturday afternoon as it faces The Citadel at 2 p.m.

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