SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The USC Upstate men's basketball team laid siege to the Hampton Pirates on Wednesday evening as they came away with an 83-73 victory inside the Eddie and Ann Payne Arena located in the G.B. Hodge Center.
 
Sophomore center Nevin Zink won the opening tip-off and scored the first basket of the game with 19:45 remaining in the period. The two teams traded the next few baskets before Everette Hammond went on a 6-0 individual run to give USC Upstate (7-9, 2-1 BSC) an 8-4 advantage going into the first media timeout.
 
A few moments later the Spartans began to feed off the crowd inside the G.B. Hodge Center. Brandon Martin scored on a tip-in layup capping an 8-2 run by the Spartans offense. Hampton (6-9, 1-1 BSC) attempted to stay in the game but the Spartans continued to hold onto their double digit lead. With 8:01 remaining in the half Thomas Booker knockdown a mid-range jumper to give the Spartans a 25-13 advantage.
 
However, over the next four minutes of action Hampton began to find their offensive rhythm and went on a 14-1 run to take the lead over USC Upstate. The Pirates went into the halftime break up 38-33 despite connecting on just one three-point attempt in the entire half.
 
Hammond and Booker led the Spartans in scoring during the first period with seven points each. Ben Stanely led all scorers with 16-points for Hampton and Jermaine Marrow contributed 10-points for the Pirates.
 
USC Upstate lit up the field in the opening moments of the second half as they outscored Hampton 11-3 in the first three-minutes of the quarter. At the first media timeout the Spartans once again held a 46-44 advantage over the Pirates. Over the next four minutes of action things got a bit chippy on the court as Marrow picked up a flagrant foul and Greg Heckstall picked up a technical foul. The Spartans took advantage and held a 54-47 lead going into the second media timeout of the period.  
 
The Spartans maintained a double-digit lead throughout the half until the final two minutes of action. Hampton fought their way back to a seven point deficit before the Spartans closed the game out with three consecutive free throws.
 
Tommy Bruner came alive in the second half with 16-points and he was a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line. Hammond contributed 13 second half points to seal the victory.
 
Notes

Upstate – Coming into tonight's game USC Upstate was 0-9 when trailing at halftime. The Spartans overcame their first five-point halftime deficit in nearly three years with their victory tonight. This is just the second time this season the Spartans have scored 50-points in a half.
 
Four Spartans ended the game in double figures, Everette Hammond for the fourth time this season reached the 20-point threshold, Tommy Bruner (16-pts) has now reached double-figures in three consecutive games, Brandon Martin recorded 11-points and Thomas Booker had 10-points in the victory. Cartier Jernigan almost became the first Spartan with a double-double this season with a 9-point, 9-rebound and 6-assist performance.


Hampton – Stanley ended the night with game high 24-points in the loss. Marrow contributed 21-points and Davion Warren added a double-double with 12-points and 15-rebounds.

UP next for the Spartans
The Spartans next game will be against Radford on Thursday, January 16, 2020. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m. inside the G.B. Hodge Center.

Tickets
Start at $8.00 (adults), $5.00 (ages 3-17); 864-503-7190 and upstatespartans.com.
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