SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Everette Hammond (Silver Spring, Md.) became the 24^th player in USC Upstate men's basketball history to reach the 1,000 point milestone in his career, but it was not enough as the Spartans fell 65-60 to High Point in the First Round of the Hercules Tires Big South Championships.
 
Nevin Zink recorded his sixth career double-double on Saturday afternoon, as he led the Spartans with 20-points and 10-rebounds. Hammond finished second on the team with 17-points and Bryson Mozone (North Augusta, S.C.) scored 11-points off the bench.
 
High Point won the opening tip and opened the game on a 7-0 run against the Spartans. Zink scored the first points of the game for USC Upstate with 15:36 to play in the opening half. Moments later the Spartans were facing a 10-point deficit down 13-3.
 
Despite being down by as many as 15-points in the opening half, the Spartans began to battle back and chip away at the Panthers lead. Mozone hit a mid-range jump shot at 6:52 to go in the half to bring the Spartans within single digits of High Point.
 
USC Upstate played lights out down the opening half stretch against High Point as they closed the period on a 15-2 run. Mozone nailed a buzzer beater three-pointer to end the half and give the Spartans momentum going into the second half. USC upstate trailed 36-32 at the halftime break.
 
The Spartans kept up the pressure in the second half as Hammond nailed a three-pointer off a pass from Dalvin White (Norcross, Ga.) to pull the Spartans within a point. On the very next possession, White scored on a fast break layup and USC Upstate had their first lead of the match with 17:40 to play in the game.
 
Although the Spartans relinquished the lead, Jatayveous Watson (Newnan, Ga.) went on a personal 5-0 run to give Upstate the advantage once again. Back-to-back three-pointers by Mozone and White gave the Spartans a 49-43 cushion with 10:27 to play in the game.
 
USC Upstate maintained a five-point lead for the majority of the half, but with 3:32 remaining in the game John-Michael Wright sank a pair of free throws to give High Point the advantage once again. High Point finished the game on a 7-0 run and advances on in the tournament.
 
UP next for the Spartans
This concludes the 2020-2021 men's basketball season for USC Upstate.  

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