SPARTANBURG, S.C. – USC Upstate men's basketball team secured their second win of the season 71-69 as they took on the Longwood Lancers Monday night in their first game of the series at the G.B. Hodge Center.
 
The two teams began the contest evenly matched. The Spartans worked exceptionally well on the offensive end to gain an early lead in the first seven minutes of the half, while the Lancers struggled to score. Turnovers by the Spartans allowed the Lancers the chance to make a comeback. They did, and the Lancers managed to close the gap after going scoreless for nearly four minutes.
 
The Lancers tied the game and took the lead with 7:43 left in the first half. Despite the Spartans dragging offensively from this point on in the half, Nevin Zink (Newton, Conn) contributed 6 points to the first half, shooting 100 percent for the half. However, the Spartans could not manage to retake the lead due to going scoreless for three minutes. It was Tommy Bruner's (Columbia, SC) buzzer beater that brought the Spartans within two of the Lancers. However, Longwood ended the first half leading 32-30.
 
Dalvin White's (Norcross, GA) triple at the beginning of the second half helped the Spartans tie the score at 36. The Spartans took the lead momentarily in the second half with a free throw shot by Bruner until the Lancers hit a layup. Though Khydarius Smith (Fort Mill, SC) was converting offensively, the Spartans could not manage to get the defensive stops to retake the lead.
 
However, in the last 15 minutes of the contest, the Spartans started taking advantage of the turnovers by the Lancers. Bruner's three pointer at 10:19 in the second half brought the Spartans within one of the Lancers. A jumper by Smith tied the score at 56. Everette Hammond's back-to-back three pointers with less than 5 minutes left in the contest gave the Spartans the momentum needed to get the dub. From here, the Spartans went on a 12-4 run until the last second of the game. Bruner's triple at 57 seconds helped the Spartans take a two-point lead over the Lancers. White's two free throws at 3.6 seconds secured the 5-point lead for the Spartans securing the win, only the second time the Spartans have overcome a halftime deficit.
 
"We got some hands on some balls in times of the game and got some steals towards the end. We got stops when we needed to. We will try and continue that on into tomorrow. If we can get our wings and bigs to stop turning the ball over, we won't turn the ball over at all. Any time we make 26 shots and 18 of them are assisted, it shows that the team really like each other." Upstate coach Stacey Palmore said, "We were very, very unselfish. We need to play more like this. If we continue to share the ball and shoot the ball we will have a good outcome. We're very fortunate to get a win. It'll be another dog fight tomorrow. We will have to exceed their energy and effort tomorrow to get another win."
 
Bruner was the leading scorer for the Spartans with 19 points, shooting 64 percent in the contest. White contributed 17 points tying his career high with 15 points being from the beyond the arch. Hammond ended with 14 points. Smith had 10 points at 71 percent, also tying his career high. Zink and Josh Aldrich (Wilmington, NC) tied for leading rebounder with 6 apiece.
 
Longwood's leading scorer was Heru Bligen with 12 points. DeShaun Wade and Justin Hill both contributed 11 points to the contest. Juan Munoz and Ilija Stefanovic finished with 10 points. Wade also finished as the leading rebounder (7).
 
 
UP next for the Spartans
The Spartans are back at home tomorrow evening against Longwood at 6:00 p.m.

TV: ESPN+ (Online and the ESPN app)
PxP: Brock Bowling
Color: Terrence Oglesby
 
Attendance Information
Single game tickets are not available for sale to the general public.  Due to limited seating capacity in accordance with social distancing guidelines, tickets for this season are reserved for season ticket holders, player families and USC Upstate students. For more information, click here.

JOIN UP
Make a difference in the lives of USC Upstate student-athletes!  Donate to the USC Upstate U Club today!
 
Keep UP with the Spartans
Facebook.com/UpstateAthletics
Twitter: @UpstateMBB
Instagram: @upstatespartans
YouTube.com/UpstateSpartans