RADFORD, Va. – The USC Upstate men's basketball team fell 106 -70 against Winthrop on Thursday afternoon in the Hercules Tires Big South Championship quarterfinals round.
 
USC Upstate (13-19, 7-11 BSC) won the opening tip-off but it was Winthrop (21-10, 15-3 BSC) who scored the opening basket of the game. Josh Ferguson and Hunter Hale hit back-to-back three-pointers to put the Eagles up 6-0 early.
 
Everette Hammond (Silver Spring, Md.) drove to the basket and drew contact on the shot attempt and made one-of-two free throws to put the Spartans on the scoreboard. Following a turnover by Winthrop Tommy Bruner (Columbia, S.C.) nailed a mid-range jumper to make it a 6-3 contest. Moments later Nevin Zink (Newtown, Conn.) made a contested layup and the Spartans trailed by one.
 
Back-to-back three pointers by Winthrop gave the Eagles a 12-5 advantage over the Spartans and prompted the Spartans to call an early timeout. Coming out of the timeout break Bruner nailed consecutive three-pointers to pull the Spartans within three-points at 14-11.
 
Over the next few minutes of game time the two squads matched each other shot-for-shot and Winthrop held a 22-15 advantage with 11:11 to play in the first half. After a back-and-forth between the two squads Bruner collected his tenth point of the half with 7:59 to play.
 
After a 6-0 run by Winthrop put the Eagles up 38-26 with 5:52 remaining in the period, USC Upstate was forced to use a timeout. Out of the timeout break Khydarius Smith (Fort Mill, S.C.) made back-to-back layups but the Eagles still maintained the lead with 3:43 to play.
 
 At the halftime intermission the Spartans trailed 54-37, Bruner led the team 13-points in the opening half. Winthrop's Hunter Hale and Josh Ferguson both had 15-points in the opening half to lead all-scorers.
 
Bruner scored the opening basket of the second half both sides with a three-pointer from the top of the key. Winthrop answered with a three-pointer of their own. Trailing 68-45 with 16:41 remaining in the game USC Upstate was forced to use a timeout.  
 
Over the next several moments the Spartans offense caught fire and went 5-for-6 from the field going into the media timeout. Hammond and the rest of the Spartans offense attempted to will themselves back into the game but a 14-4 run by Winthrop gave the Eagles a 91-64 advantage.
 
Down the stretch both sides pulled their starters and let the bench play the final 3:50 of the game.
 
Notes
 
Upstate – Tommy Bruner led the team with 19-points in the game, while Everette Hammond and Nevin Zink each contributed 12-points in the contest.
 
Winthrop – Hunter Hale led the Eagles with 21-points and Josh Ferguson recorded a double-double (17-pts, 10 rebounds). Charles Falden scored 17-points off the bench and Micheal Anumba scored 13-points in the victory for the Eagles.
 
UP next for the Spartans
This concludes the 2019-2020 men's basketball season for USC Upstate. The Spartans will look to build off their success from this season as they look ahead to the 2020-2021 basketball season.
 
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