Box Score (.pdf)

Fort Myers, Fla. – Michael Buchanan's rebound and layup with 1.9 seconds left gave the USC Upstate men's basketball team a 62-60 victory over the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles Thursday evening in ASUN action from Alico Arena.

With the win, Upstate moves into a three-way tie for first place in the ASUN standings with a 3-1 record while improving to 13-8 overall. Florida Gulf Coast falls to 14-6 on the season and 3-1 in conference play.

Mike Cunningham led the Spartans with a game-high 14 points while Buchanan added eight points and 10 rebounds. Brandon Goodwin had a team-leading 12 points for the Eagles and was one of four players to finish in double-figures.

• Jure Span put Upstate in front 6-5 early in the first half following his 3-pointer with 17:16 left.
• Florida Gulf Coast would then go up by 10 points, 17-7, three minutes later when Marc-Eddy Norelia capped off a 12-2 run for FGCU.
• The Eagles went ahead by 11 points twice over the next seven minutes before taking their largest lead of the game at 28-16 with 6:50 remaining on a layup from Antravious Simmons.
• The Spartans controlled the remainder of the half by going on a 16-2 run over the final 6:02 that began with back-to-back 3-pointers by Cunningham and Deion Holmes.
• A layup from Josh Cuthbertson tied the game for Upstate at 30-30 with 42 seconds left in the first half. Cunningham's layup with one second left sent the Spartans into halftime leading Florida Gulf Coast 32-30.
• FGCU began the second half with six straight points over the first 2:05 and took the lead back at 36-32 after a field goal by Goodwin. Upstate responded with the next four points to go back in front 38-36 on Malik Moore's 3-pointer.
• After Simmons evened the score again at 38-38, the Spartans broke the game open courtesy of a 12-1 run that lasted 2:28 and took their largest lead of the game at 50-39 with 12:31 left on a jumper from Philip Whittington.
• Upstate would be held scoreless for the next eight minutes as FGCU trimmed the lead down to 50-46 at the 5:26 mark. Ramel Thompkins ended the scoring drought for the Spartans after his 3-pointer extended the lead back to 53-46 with 4:27 to go.
• The Eagles came back to take a 56-54 lead with just over two minutes left in the game on Zach Johnson's dunk, but Thompkins answered the following possession with another 3-pointer to put Upstate back in front 57-56.
• The Spartans held a 60-58 lead with one minute left in the game only to see Florida Gulf Coast tie the score at 60-60 with 18 seconds remaining on a pair of free-throws by Johnson.
• Moore's layup attempt with three seconds to go missed but Buchanan was there to pull down his third offensive rebound of the night. His put back bounced in with 1.9 seconds left and gave Upstate the 62-60 victory.

• Cunningham finished the game shooting 5-of-12 from the field with four of his field goals coming behind the 3-point line. He was 4-for-7 from 3-point range and added a game-high four assists.
• Buchanan led all players with 10 rebounds to give him 23 double-digit rebounding games in his career.
• Moore added nine points while Thompkins contributed eight. Whittington also concluded the game with six rebounds.
• Goodwin was joined in double-figures for the Eagles by Simmons (11), Johnson (11) and Christian Terrell (10).
• Demetris Morant had nine rebounds to lead FGCU while adding two blocks and two steals.
• The victory for the Spartans was their fourth all-time against Florida Gulf Coast inside Alico Arena and first since advancing to the ASUN Tournament Championship Game after a 63-62 win on March 5, 2015.
• Upstate finished the game shooting 40.4 percent (23-of-57) overall and 44.4 percent (12-of-27) from 3-point range. The Spartans limited FGCU to just 23.1 percent (3-of-13) on 3-point shooting.
• Upstate held a 12-11 advantage in second chance points and saw its bench outscore the Eagles 30-7.
• The score was tied six times throughout the game while the lead changed hands eight times.

• The Spartans continue their three-game road trip Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. against Stetson.