Box Score (.pdf)

Spartanburg, S.C. – Deion Holmes scored a game-high 18 points on Wednesday evening as the USC Upstate men's basketball team fell to the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs, 74-61, in non-conference play from Eddie and Ann Payne Arena in the G.B. Hodge Center.

USC Upstate falls to 1-6 on the season while Gardner-Webb improves to 3-5 overall.

A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS

• Holmes led all players offensively after finishing with a game-high 18 points to go with eight rebounds.
• Nevin Zink just missed on his first career double-double after recording 10 points and a career-high nine rebounds.
• Malik Moore contributed eight rebounds while Jure Span and Everette Hammond finished with six points apiece.
• Span also dished out a game-high five assists.
• Jose Perez led four Runnin' Bulldogs in double-figures after scoring a team-high 17 points.
• Eric Jamison Jr. compiled a double-double on 16 points and 11 rebounds.
• DJ Laster posted 13 points and David Efianayi 11.
• The Spartans finished the game shooting 35.1 percent (20-of-57) from the field.
• USC Upstate held a 23-10 advantage in second chance points.
• The game featured three lead changes and two ties.

FIRST HALF BREAKDOWN

• Gardner-Webb led by as many as five points in the game's opening four minutes when a dunk by Jamison Jr. made the score 8-3 with 16:07 remaining.
• Zink and Josh Aldrich followed with back-to-back baskets and cut the Spartans deficit to 8-7 at the 14:15 mark.
• The Runnin' Bulldogs followed with a 9-0 run that covered almost four minutes and took a 17-7 lead with 10:08 remaining.
• Perez later maintained the 10-point lead for Gardner-Webb at 24-14 with 7:31 left.
• The Runnin' Bulldogs took their largest lead of the half at 29-18 with 5:11 to go.
• USC Upstate closed out the half on a 14-4 run over the final 3:31.
• Holmes, Span and Bryson Mozone knocked down three straight 3-pointers and made the score 29-27 with 2:22 left.
• Moore followed with another 3-pointer at the 1:26 mark to put the score at 31-30.
• Moore's jumper with 23 seconds remaining sent the Spartans into halftime trailing 33-32.

SECOND HALF BREAKDOWN

• After Gardner-Webb scored the opening four points of the second half, USC Upstate received a 3-pointer from Span and a jumper by Holmes to tie the score at 37-37 with 17:47 to go.
• The Spartans would get as close as two points twice over a stretch of almost one minute starting at 41-39 with 15:36 remaining on two free throws from Brandon Martin.
• Hammond followed with a 3-pointer at the 14:46 mark to put the score at 44-42.
• The Runnin' Bulldogs would then go on a 12-5 run over the next 3:09 and took a 56-47 lead with 11:11 left.
• Holmes connected on a 3-pointer during the run and cut the USC Upstate deficit to 48-45 with 13:12 to go.
• The Spartans got as close as four points three times over a period of nearly three minutes with the last coming at 59-55 with 7:26 remaining on Moore's dunk.
• Gardner-Webb responded with seven consecutive points and took a 66-55 advantage with 5:47 left.
• Zink got USC Upstate as close as seven points, 66-59, over the game's final five minutes at the 4:42 mark.
• Perez scored the game's final four points over the last 2:03 to give the Runnin' Bulldogs their largest lead of the game at 13 points.
• His final field goal, a jumper, with 1:17 remaining made the final score 74-61.

UP NEXT

• The Spartans head to Kalamazoo, Mich. on Saturday afternoon for a 2 p.m. tipoff at Western Michigan.

Follow USC Upstate men's basketball on Facebook (UpstateAthletics), Twitter (@UpstateMB), Instagram (@upstatespartans), YouTube (USCUpstateAthletics) and text/e-mail alerts (www.upstatespartans.com/list-signup).