SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Nevin Zink recorded his fifth career double-double on Thursday evening, but it was to no avail as USC Upstate fell 84-74 to Hampton inside the G.B. Hodge Center.
 
"It is a disappointing loss. We had some guys step up and some other guys who did not score, as well. It's over and we will learn from it. It's a tough loss and we'll just try to get better." USC Upstate coach Stacey Palmore said, "We've got to make corrections and see what was good and what was bad. We've got to turn the page to Charleston Southern. It's the next opponent and a new opponent."
 
Hampton (7-8, 6-4 BSC) won the opening tip-off and moments later Chris Shelton scored the first points of the game with a three-pointer. Tommy Bruner (Columbia, S.C.) countered with a three-pointer of his own to keep the score even in the early moments.
 
Throughout the opening 10 minutes of action, Shelton paced the Pirates scoring as they held a 15-10 advantage with 12:44 to play in the period. Following a media timeout Bruner hit a mid-range jumper to pull the Spartans back to within three of Hampton. The Pirates then scored nine consecutive points to take a commanding 25-14 lead with 8:26 to play in the half.
 
Zink's putback layup with 7:42 to go in the period ended the Pirates scoring run and jump started the Spartans offense. Bryson Mozone (North Augusta, S.C.) went a personal 5-0 run and brought the Spartans back to within a trio of Hampton at 25-22.
 
Over the next three-minutes of game time the Pirates went on a 10-0 run, capped off by a Shelton three-pointer at the 3:50 mark of the opening period. After a quick Spartan run, Hampton took the momentum into halftime with a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Marquis Godwin. The Pirate led 43-32 going into the intermission.
 
Shelton led all-scorers with 16-points in the opening half of play and Godwin added 10-points for Hampton. Bruner led USC Upstate (3-11, 3-5 BSC) with 11 first half points.
 
With 15:08 to play in the game Russell Dean converted on a layup attempt and capped off a 10-4 run to start off the second half. The made layup gave Hampton a 17-point advantage, their largest lead of the night.
 
USC Upstate began to chip away at the Pirates lead and at the 11:45 mark of the second half, Bruner went coast-to-coast and the brought the Spartans within eight points at 57-49. Over the next several moments of game time, both sides began to make it a point to get to the free throw line. A Mozone fast break dunk at the 2:12 mark of the second period brought the Spartans back within single digits at 74-65.
 
Hampton converted free throws down the stretch and Hammond scored a three-pointer with 22 seconds to go in the game to make it a final score of 84-74.
 
Hammond led USC Upstate with a 19-point effort, Zink finished with 18-points and 13-rebounds, Bruner ended with a 17-point, 5-rebound effort and Mozone rounded out the double-digit scoring with a 13-point, 8-rebound contest.
 
Warren was once again the leading scorer with 27-points, Russell Dean finished with 18-points, Shelton recorded 16-points and Goodwin added 13-points in the win for Hampton.
 
UP next for the Spartans
The Spartans hit the road next week to take on Charleston Southern.

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