The Upstate Spartans men's basketball team plays the third game in a four game road trip Monday night, November 18, at Akron. The contest is slated for 7:00 pm inside James A. Rhodes Arena in Akron, Ohio and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Upstate (1-3) and the Zips (2-1) are each playing their second game in the Global Sports Shootout which also features NC Central and (4) Louisville – Upstate's opponent Wednesday night.
The Spartans will look to build off some positives from an 80-57 loss at Virginia Tech on November 13th. Upstate outrebounded the Hokies on the night and despite shooting just 3-of-25 from behind the arc, the Spartans fought their way back to trial by just 9 with 11 minutes remaining.
Everette Hammond (Soph., Silver Spring, Md.) led Upstate with 15 points in the contest and is the team's leading scorer thus far this season with 13.5 points per game
Akron is coming off a 57-47 win over North Carolina Central on Saturday in what was a tough night shooting for both clubs. The Zips were just 13-of-51 from the floor (25.5%) while the Eagles were just marginally better at 17-of-60 (28.3%). The difference was at the free throw line as Akron attempted 19 more free throws than NCCU (31 to 12) and drained 25 of those 31 attempts. Tyler Cheese poured in 20 points and Xeyrius Williams added 19 to lead the way for Akron. The pair are also the Zips leading scorers on the season with Williams averaging 18.7 points per game and Cheese adding 16.7 points per game.
The final game of the road trip for Upstate is Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. as the Spartans travel to the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky. to face the 4
th ranked Cardinals. That contest will be nationally televised on the ACC Network.
Upstate returns to the Eddie and Ann Payne Arena at the G. B. Hodge Center on Saturday, November 23
rd at 2:00 p.m. to host Youngstown State. Tickets 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).
