BLACKSBURG, VA. – Sophomore guard Everette Hammond (Silver Springs, Md.) scored a team high 15 points on Wednesday night in Blacksburg as USC Upstate fell 80-57 to Virginia Tech.

"Everette Hammond came out and played well off the bench. He came out and played hard, and our guys really played hard as a whole tonight," USC Upstate head basketball coach Dave Dickerson said. "I'm proud of the way we competed and if we could have gotten two or three shots to fall in it's a different game. We're getting better and I like what we are doing. This is a tough road trip for us and we've got two more games on the road next week."

USC Upstate (1-3) came ready to play and got off to a hot start on Wednesday night, jumping out to a 16-11 lead. The Spartans continued to pester the Virginia Tech (3-0) throughout the opening half and eventually cut the lead back to single digits in the second half.

One of the primary reasons the Spartans stayed so successful was that they outrebounded the Hokies 33-31. USC Upstate also recorded more second chance points and bench points in the match. Nevin Zink (Newtown, Conn.) finished second on the team in points with 10. Bryson Mozone (North Augusta, S.C.) recorded a team high eight rebounds and Dalvin White (Norcross, Ga.) had four assists in the contest.  

Landers Nolley II led Virginia Tech with 23 points and six assists. Jalen Cone recorded 11 points and a trio of other Hokie players finished with nine points. Wabissa Bede led the team with eight assists for Virginia Tech.

USC Upstate will have a few days off before traveling to Akron, Ohio next Monday night.
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