Box Score (.pdf)

Spartanburg, S.C. – The USC Upstate men's basketball team overcame a 12-point deficit in the second half to defeat the Jacksonville Dolphins 73-66 on Saturday afternoon inside the G.B. Hodge Center behind Philip Whittington's third career double-double.

Upstate improves to 12-8 on the season and 2-1 in ASUN play, while Jacksonville drops to 13-7 overall and 1-2 in the conference.

Whittington, making his seventh start of the season, led the Spartans with 14 points and 13 rebounds, and was one of four players to score in double-figures. Whittington was joined by three players with 11 points each in Jure Span, Deion Holmes and Michael Buchanan. J.R. Holder had a game-high 20 points for the Dolphins.

GAME BREAKDOWN

• Upstate opened the game on a 10-4 run and led by six points less than four minutes in on a 3-pointer from Span.
• The Spartans made four 3-pointers over the course of nearly seven minutes and led 16-7 with 12:58 remaining on a triple by Ramel Thompkins.
• Buchanan gave Upstate its largest lead of the game at the 11:15 mark when his layup made the score 20-10.
• Jacksonville answered with a 14-3 run that covered nearly six minutes and would take a one-point lead, 24-23, with 5:36 to go on a 3-pointer from Tanner Rubio. Rubio connected on three 3-pointers during the run.
• Rubio and Darien Fernandez put the Dolphins in front by seven, 32-25, with 2:19 to go on a pair of 3-pointers.
• Rubio sent Jacksonville into halftime leading the Spartans 37-31 on his 3-pointer with 34 seconds remaining before intermission.
• The Dolphins jumped out to a 12-point lead to start the second half when two free-throws from Holder gave them a 45-33 advantage at the 16:09 mark. Holder later extended Jacksonville's lead back to 11, 48-37, with 13:44 to go following another 3-pointer.
• Upstate got back into the game midway in the second half after going on an 11-1 run that covered a span of 3:37 and cut its deficit to 49-48 with 9:48 left on a 3-pointer from Holmes.
• The Dolphins held off the Spartans to go back ahead by five points twice over the next 2:46 with the last coming at the 7:02 mark when a layup from Darius Dawkins gave JU a 58-53 lead.
• Whittington gave Upstate the lead back with 4:02 to go in the game after his two free-throws made the score 63-62. The free-throws began a 12-4 run for the Spartans that lasted the final four minutes of the game.
• Mike Cunningham scored all seven of his points during the last 1:23 beginning with three free-throws to give Upstate a 69-64 lead.
• Cunningham's last two free-throws with five seconds remaining sealed the 73-66 victory for the Spartans.

• Whittington had 10 points and six rebounds in the second half for Upstate as it outscored Jacksonville 42-29. He finished the game shooting 5-of-8 from the field and added three blocks.
• Buchanan also went 4-for-5 shooting, while Span and Josh Cuthbertson each connected on three of their five 3-point attempts. Cunningham was a perfect 5-for-5 from the free-throw line.
• Span and Cuthbertson both dished out a game-high five assists.
• Holder was one of three Dolphins to score at least 10 points along with Rubio (15) and Fernandez (14).
• Fernandez and Antwon Clayton pulled down seven rebounds apiece for Jacksonville.
• The Spartans finished the game shooting 44.4 percent (24-of-54) and limited the Dolphins to just 2-of-11 (18.2 percent) from 3-point range in the second half.
• Upstate held a 28-26 advantage in points in the paint, 18-8 in points off turnovers and 24-17 in points from the bench.
• The Spartans also forced Jacksonville into 15 turnovers which led to 18 points.
• The score was tied twice in the contest while the lead changed hands four times.

• Upstate begins a three-game road trip on Thursday, January 19 when it travels to Fort Myers, Fla. to face Florida Gulf Coast at 7 p.m.

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