Box Score (.pdf)

Spartanburg, S.C. – In a game that came down to the final seconds on Monday evening, the fourth-seeded USC Upstate men's basketball team came up just short to No. 5 seed Kennesaw State as the Owls held on for an 80-78 victory over the Spartans in the quarterfinals of the ASUN Men's Basketball Championship from the G.B. Hodge Center.

Upstate falls to 17-15 on the season while Kennesaw State improves to 14-17 overall and advances to the ASUN Championship semifinals on Thursday.

Mike Cunningham led the Spartans offensively with 18 points, while Michael Buchanan compiled his 14^th double-double of the season on 14 points and 10 rebounds. Deion Holmes also added 15 points.

Kendrick Ray led all players with a game-high 24 points for the Owls and Nick Masterson contributed 18. Aubrey Williams pulled down 11 rebounds.

GAME BREAKDOWN

• Jordan Jones got Kennesaw State on the board 14 seconds into the game before Upstate tied the score on a Buchanan jumper. Neither team led by more than two points during a back-and-forth opening 10 minutes.
• A pair of free throws by Williams, followed by a Johannes Nielsen jumper, gave the Owls an 18-14 lead at the 9:44 mark. The four-point advantage was the largest for Kennesaw State in the first half.

• The Spartans held a six-point lead at four different points in the final five minutes of the first half.
• Malik Moore gave the Spartans a 33-26 advantage following a free throw with 1:31 remaining before the Owls tied the score at 33-33 on a Zach Cameron free throw with 14 seconds left.
• Josh Cuthbertson missed a 3-pointer with five seconds left, but Philip Whittington got the offensive rebound and his jumper bounced in just before time expired to give Upstate a 35-33 halftime lead.
• Buchanan put the Spartans in front by four, 37-33, to begin the second half until Kennesaw State came back to take a 41-37 lead with 17:23 remaining after Masterson connected on a 3-pointer.
• After Moore evened the score again at 41-41 less than a minute later with his dunk, the Owls would go on a 9-2 run and take their largest lead of the game at 50-43 with 13:46 to go. Kennesaw State later maintained its seven-point advantage at the 8:35 mark when Ray's 3-pointer extended its lead to 63-56.
• The Owls held a six-point lead with just over six minutes remaining in the game before Moore and Holmes combined for six straight points to tie the game for Upstate at 69-69 with 5:13 left.
• Neither team led by more than three points heading into the final minute of play as Jure Span cut the Spartans deficit down to one, 77-76, at the 1:12 mark with his layup.
• Kyle Clarke followed for Kennesaw State with two free throws to put Kennesaw State ahead 79-76 with 28 seconds left. Span answered with another layup to put Upstate back down by one, 79-78, with just 13 seconds left.
• Ray made 1-of-2 free throw attempts with 10 seconds to go as the Owls led 80-78.
• The Spartans game-tying attempt hit off the front of the rim to give the Owls the two-point victory.

• Cunningham and Buchanan both connected on six field goals in the contest as Cunningham was 6-for-9 shooting and Buchanan 6-of-13.
• Cunningham and Holmes each went 6-for-7 at the free throw line.
• Buchanan compiled the 22^nd double-double of his career and 27^th with 10 or more rebounds.
• Moore led Upstate with three assists while Cunningham had two steals.
• Masterson finished the game shooting 7-of-12 from the field for Kennesaw State while Ray was 9-for-21.
• Clarke was 5-for-5 at the charity stripe, and also had five assists and four steals. Ray also dished out five assists.
• The Spartans finished the game shooting 51.9 percent (27-of-52) highlighted by a 57.7 percent clip (15-of-26) in the second half.
• Upstate compiled a team field goal percentage of 50 percent or better in back-to-back games, marking the second time this season the team has accomplished that feat.
• The Spartans held a 32-31 advantage in rebounds, and led 38-32 in points in the paint, 11-9 in second chance points and 24-15 in bench points.
• The game featured six lead changes and 14 ties.