SPARTANBURG, S.C. – USC Upstate opened the game on 28-9 run and never looked back as they coasted to a 79-67 wire-to-wire victory over Eastern Kentucky on Tuesday night at the Eddie and Ann Payne Arena located inside the G.B. Hodge Center.
 
Sophomore guard Everette Hammond (Silver Spring, Md.) accounted for nearly half of the Spartans points (14) in the opening half. Hammond scored the first three baskets of the game for USC Upstate (2-7) and accounted for 12-of-the-teams-19-points with 7:35 to play in the first half. USC Upstate shot 40 percent from beyond the arch and held Eastern Kentucky (3-5) to 9 percent shooting from three-point range to take a 30-17 halftime advantage.
 
Going into the second half the Spartans kept up the pressure and eventually held a 25-point lead over Eastern Kentucky with 15:33 remaining in the game. Give credit to Eastern Kentucky for not giving up as they slowly chipped away at the Spartans lead. An 11-0 run helped the Colonels cut the Spartan deficit to 8 points with 8:24 remaining in the contest. Eastern Kentucky would never be close again as USC Upstate raced back out to a 16 point lead.   

Notes
Everette Hammond led all scorers with 27-points (ties career high) in the contest and was a rebound shy of recording his first career double-double. Hammond's nine rebounds were a new career high for the sophomore guard. With 11-made free throws on the night Hammond becomes the first player since Malik Moore to record 10-or more free throws in a game.
 
Tommy Bruner (Columbia, S.C.) finished with a career best 19-points and 5-rebound performance. The freshman was also a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line.
 
Josh Aldrich (Wilmington, N.C.) ended the night with a career high 12-points and tied his career high in rebounds with 7-boards on the night.
 
Jatayveous Watson (Newnan, Ga.) made quiet the debut as he slammed down an alley-oop dunk in the second half to get the crowd of 568 on their feet. The freshman ended the game with four points and one assist.
 
As a unit USC Upstate recorded 30-made free throws in the match which ranks third all-time in the single game record book. The 38-attempted free throws were the most since the Spartans attempted 30 against Brevard in November of 2018.

Eastern Kentucky had four people end the night in double-figures, Jomaru Brown (17), Ty Taylor (15), Tre King (13) and Darius Hicks (12).

UP next for the Spartans
Sunday, December 8 at Furman, 2:00 pm
Next home game: Saturday, December 21 vs. Bob Jones, 1:00 pm

Tickets
Start at $8.00 (adults), $5.00 (ages 3-17); To order, call 864-503-7190 or buy online at upstatespartans.com

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