Box Score (.pdf)

Spartanburg, S.C. – The USC Upstate men's basketball team dropped an 88-81 decision to The Citadel Bulldogs Saturday afternoon in game five of the Palmetto State Shootout despite career-high showings from Deion Holmes, Jacob Schulte and Jure Span.

Upstate drops to 0-7 on the season while The Citadel moves its record to 5-2 overall.

Holmes led the Spartans offensively with 26 points, surpassing his career-high scoring effort for the second straight game and now gives him three straight contests with at least 20 points. Holmes finished the afternoon 6-of-14 from the field, 5-of-8 from three and 9-of-10 at the free-throw line. Schulte went 8-for-13 shooting including a 5-of-8 mark at the charity stripe. Mike Cunningham also had 10 points while Marvin Smith grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.

Span dished out a Division I era record 11 assists against the Bulldogs, becoming the first Upstate player during that time to record double-digit assists. The last time a Spartan had 10 or more assists in a game was Jeremy Byrd who had 12 against UNC Pembroke on Feb. 10, 2007.

Derrick Henry came off the bench to score a game-high 30 points for The Citadel, and was joined in double-figures by Quinton Marshall with 22 and Zane Najdawi at 11. P.J. Boutte added a team-high nine assists and 10 rebounds.

Upstate led by as many as six points early in the first half when Holmes connected on a three to give it a 14-8 lead at the 14:06 mark. The Bulldogs would answer with back-to-back three's by Warren Sledge and Connor Schroeder to tie the score at 14-14 just over a minute later. Henry added three's on the next two possessions as The Citadel used a 9-2 run over nearly three minutes to go ahead 23-18 with 9:53 left.

The Spartans stayed within three over the next three minutes before Holmes evened the score 28-28 with 6:30 left after his layup. Span followed a basket by Henry with a triple to give Upstate the lead back at 31-30. Holmes extended the Spartan lead to 34-30 at the 4:15 mark following his three-pointer.

Henry scored seven straight points for the Bulldogs to give them their largest lead of the half at 43-36 with just over two minutes left before halftime. Span hit a three on Upstate's final possession of the half to put it down 45-41 heading into intermission.

The Citadel took its largest lead of the contest less than three minutes into the second half when a three by Marshall gave it a 51-43 advantage. The Spartans quickly cut their deficit back to one with 15:38 remaining after a three-point play by Cunningham, sparking a 10-0 run for Upstate to give it a 57-51 lead. Malik Moore's jumper put the Spartans ahead by six with 14:02 to go.

The Bulldogs responded to take the lead back on Sledge's three at the 8:54 mark to make the score 68-64. The Citadel managed to increase its lead out to 73-68, but Upstate rallied to tie the score again, 78-78, on a three by Holmes as the clock went under four minutes to play. Holmes added two free throws 40 seconds later to give the Spartans an 80-78 lead.

Marshall and Henry scored six of The Citadel's final eight points as it held Upstate to just a free throw by Holmes to earn the 88-81 victory. Henry made two free throws with five seconds remaining to give the Bulldogs the seven-point win.

The Spartans finished the game shooting 28-of-63 (44.4%) while The Citadel went 31-of-70 (44.3%). Upstate held a 52-33 advantage in rebounding and 10-2 in fast break points.

Upstate concludes play in the Palmetto State Shootout Monday evening at 7 p.m. against Toccoa Falls.

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