SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Just 72 hours after the USC Upstate men's basketball defeated Truett-McConnell in their home opener the Spartans will board a bus headed for Durham, N.C., and take on North Carolina Central for the second game of the 2019 Global Sports Shootout.
USC Upstate (1-1) is coming off a 103-62 win over Truett-McConnell on Friday night. The Spartans started the game on 30-2 run and never looked back as sophomore guard
Everette Hammond (Silver Springs, Md.) dropped a career high 27 points in the victory. Hammond was not the only Spartan to eclipse the double-figure mark in scoring,
Josh Aldrich (Wilmington, N.C.) scored a career high 11 points,
Bryson Mozone (North Augusta, S.C.) added 11 points,
Brandon Martin (Miami, Fla.) and
Cartier Jernigan (Charlotte, N.C.) rounded out the scoring with 10 points each.
Through two games this season the Spartans have four players averaging eight points or better per contest. Hammond currently leads the team in scoring averaging 16 points per game, followed by Martin at 11.5 ppg, Tommy Burner (Columbia, S.C.) 11.0 ppg, and Mozone 8.5 ppg. Martin currently leads the team in rebounds this season averaging five boards a game. Jernigan currently leads the team in steals with seven swipes on the season. The Charlotte native had the second most steals ever in a game with six steals against Truett-McConnell.
USC Upstate and North Carolina Central (0-1) are meeting for the first time in program history on Monday night. The Spartans will have a small sample size to go off of since the Eagles have played just one game this season. In a 94-64 loss to Stephen F. Austin on Saturday afternoon the Eagles had four players end the game in double figures. Nicolas Fennell and Randy Miller Jr. led the way with 12 points, followed by Jibri Blount and Ty Graves who each had 10 points in the contest. Evan Clayborne just missed out with nine points scored in the match. North Carolina Central recorded 21 rebounds, 12 assists and committed 31 turnovers against Stephen F. Austin.
The 2019 Global Sports Classic is played on campus sites from November 10-24. Participants in this year's classic include, USC Upstate, North Carolina Central, Akron, Louisville and Youngstown State. The classic tips-off this afternoon with Youngstown State visiting Louisville at 2 p.m. USC Upstate's lone home game in the tournament will be on Saturday, November 23 against Youngstown State.
Live audio, video and stat links can all be found on
upstatespartans.com. The Spartans begin a four-game road trip on November 11 at North Carolina Central, returning to the Hodge Center, Saturday, November 23 to face Youngstown State at 2:00 pm. Tickets for the contest start at $8.00 for adults or $5.00 for youth (ages 3-17).
To purchase tickets, for Upstate Spartans basketball, shop online at
upstatespartans.com or call, 864-503-7190. Follow Upstate men's basketball on Facebook (UpstateAthletics), Twitter (@UpstateMB), Instagram (@upstatespartans) and YouTube (USCUpstateAthletics).
