Box Score (.pdf)

Spartanburg, S.C. – Michael Buchanan recorded his ninth double-double of the season to lift the USC Upstate men's basketball team to a 75-65 victory over the NJIT Highlanders Saturday afternoon inside the G.B. Hodge Center to begin the ASUN portion of its schedule.

Upstate improves to 11-7 overall and 1-0 in the league, while NJIT falls to 8-9 on the season and 0-1 in conference play.

Buchanan led all players with a game-high 24 points and 15 rebounds, and was one of three players to score in double-figures along with Mike Cunningham (13) and Josh Cuthbertson (12). Tim Coleman and Abdul Lewis each had double-doubles for the Highlanders. Coleman tallied 16 points and 10 rebounds while Lewis added 15 points and 10 rebounds.

GAME BREAKDOWN

• The Spartans led by three points three times during the game's opening five minutes and held an early 9-6 advantage with 15:39 remaining when Buchanan connected on a layup.
• Malik Moore and Jure Span both gave Upstate seven-point advantages in less than a minute with Span making it a 19-12 contest at the 11:07 mark with his jumper.
• NJIT answered with a 7-0 run to lead 21-19 three minutes later, but Deion Holmes responded with a triple and put the Spartans back in front 22-21 with 7:44 left.
• A jumper by Cunningham with 6:26 remaining sparked a 13-2 run for Upstate over the next five minutes as he gave the Spartans their largest lead of the half at 35-23 with 2:08 to go on his 3-pointer.
• Upstate held a 37-30 lead at halftime as Coleman made a jumper with 23 seconds left before intermission.
• Buchanan had 18 points and 10 rebounds on 8-of-10 shooting in the second half, and registered four of the Spartans first seven points to give them a 44-33 advantage less than four minutes into the period.
• Buchanan would give Upstate its largest lead of the game five minutes later at 50-36 with his field goal.
• The Highlanders used a 9-0 run over the span of 2:01 to get back to within five points, 50-45, on a jumper from Lewis.
• Buchanan held off the NJIT rally to record the next five points for the Spartans to go back in front 55-45 less than two minutes later at the 7:52 mark. The senior kept Upstate's margin at double-digits with 4:43 remaining when his jumper increased its lead to 63-53.
• Coleman cut the Highlanders deficit down to three points, 66-63, with 2:04 left following his 3-point play to complete a 10-3 run.
• The Spartans outscored NJIT 9-2 over the final 1:46 with Cuthbertson, Cunningham, Span and Ramel Thompkins all collecting a point during that stretch. Upstate scored the final six points of the game with Cunningham securing the 75-65 victory with 20 seconds to go at the free-throw line.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Buchanan tied his season-high of 11 made field goals en route to the 18^th double-double of his career. The Las Vegas, Nev. native tied his career-high with 15 rebounds on Saturday while equaling his season-best of 24 points to go with two assists.
• Cuthbertson contributed three assists and two steals, and Cunningham added a game-high five assists.
• Damon Lynn posted 11 points for the Highlanders to join Lewis and Coleman in double-figures.
• Lewis led NJIT offensively with a 6-for-12 shooting performance and Coleman had a team-leading four assists.
• The Spartans finished the game shooting 45.2 percent (28-of-62) from the field, and limited the Highlanders to a 22-of-73 (30.1 percent) mark including 5-for-32 (15.6 percent) behind the 3-point line.
• Upstate held a 28-24 advantage in points in the paint and 4-2 in fast break points.
• The score was tied twice during the contest while the lead changed hands two times.

UP NEXT

• The Spartans remain in conference play on Thursday, Jan. 12 when they host North Florida at 7 p.m.