HAMPTON, Va. – The USC Upstate men's basketball team scored 56 second half points against Hampton on Saturday afternoon as they stormed back from a 17-point deficit to take 90-79 victory.
 
Hampton (13-18, 8-10 BSC) scored the opening basket of the game with 18:51 to go in the opening half. Nevin Zink (Newtown, Conn.) quickly countered with a layup at the 18:39 mark to tie the game at 2-2. Over the next several minutes of game time the two squads stayed within striking distance of one another.
 
Then at the 11:09 mark of the half the Pirates began to make their move. Ben Stanley knocked down a jumper in the paint and Jermaine Marrow hit back-to-back three-pointers to give the Pirates a 29-19 advantage. Hampton's lead extended to 14-points, until Bryson Mozone (North Augusta, S.C.) hit an open jumper to end the run.
 
For the remainder of the half USC Upstate (12-19, 7-11 BSC) clawed and fought their way back to keep within striking distance of the Pirates. Trailing, 49-34 at the halftime intermission, a trio of Spartans held the team lead with at least 7-points. Hampton's Jermaine Marrow led all scorers with 25-points at the halftime break.
 
On the first play of the second half Ben Stanley scored on a layup opportunity to give the Pirates a 17-point advantage over the Spartans. Then USC Upstate began to make their move, over the next four minutes of game time the Spartans went on a 17-4 run, capped by a Dalvin White three-pointer to pull the Spartans within six points of the Pirates.
 
Trailing 59-49 with 15:19 remaining in the period White and Everette Hammond (Silver Springs, Md.) began to make another push on the offensive side as USC Upstate went on an 11-0 run to take a 63-59 lead over Hampton.
 
The Spartan offense did not stop there as Zink threw down an alley-oop dunk and ignited yet another USC Upstate run. Hammond capped off the 8-0 run with a three-pointer at the 8:56 mark, putting the Spartans ahead by a score of 73-61.
 
Hampton countered with a quick 7-2 run by freshman Tommy Bruner (Columbia, S.C.) picked the pocket of a Pirate guard and scored on a fast break layup to put the Spartans back up by nine. For the remainder of the game the Spartans held off the Pirates and won by a final score of 90-79.
 
Notes

Upstate – For the second consecutive game the Spartans recorded 25 team assists in a game.
Everette Hammond led the Spartans offense with 28-points, followed by Dalvin White's career-best 17-point outing against the Pirates. Nevin Zink recorded his third double-double of the season with 14-points and 10-rebounds in the contest. Tommy Bruner added 13-points and tied his career high for a second straight game with 9-assists.

Hampton – Jermaine Marrow led all scorers with 30-points in the contest. Ben Stanley added 25-points and Greg Heckstall contributed 10-points to conclude the scoring for Hampton.

UP next for the Spartans
USC Upstate will await to see who they will play in the Big South Tournament on Tuesday evening.

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