BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – On the road to complete the final leg of a three-game stretch against regional Big South rivals, USC Upstate men's basketball's near season-high shooting night met an equally, if not more so, hot Gardner-Webb team as the Runnin' Bulldogs downed the Spartans Wednesday night 78-66.
 
On the night, the Spartans shot 54.5 percent (24-of-44) from the field and saw three players score in double-figures, but the Runnin' Bulldogs shot 60.0 percent (27-of-45) from the floor and saw two players score 20-plus points. While the game was within a point at halftime, Gardner-Webb took control of the game as it opened the second half on a 22-0 scoring run and post a staggering 78.3 field goal percentage that proved the difference in the game.
 
Heading the trio of double-figures scorers for Upstate, freshman guard Justin Bailey poured in a career-high 17 points, scoring 15 of his 17 in the second half. Sophomore guard Jordan Gainey and senior guard Mysta Goodloe added 12 and 10 points, respectively, to round out the trio.
 
Game Information
Score: Gardner-Webb 78; USC Upstate 66
Records: USC Upstate (9-11; 4-5 Big South); Gardner-Webb (10-11; 5-4 Big South)
Location: Paul Porter Arena | Boiling Springs, N.C.
 
How It Happened
First Half

• Opening the game, both teams were dialed in from long range as the first four baskets of the game came from beyond the arc—Upstate first then two from Gardner-Webb, and another from Upstate. Heading into the first media timeout, a Jordan Gainey steal led to a fastbreak dunk from Floyd Rideau Jr. to give Upstate a slight advantage in the early going.
• Building upon the momentum of Rideau Jr.'s dunk, the Spartans built up their lead to as many as five, starting with a 5-0 run after Gardner-Webb tied the game at eight apiece. Gainey and Justin Bailey kept the lead at five with a bucket or free throws following a Runnin' Bulldog answer heading into the under-12 stoppage.
• With neither team scoring for nearly three minutes out of the second media, Gardner-Webb began chipping into the Spartans' lead with a 4-0 run spanning the under-eight timeout. The run grew to 19-7 as the Runnin' Bulldogs took the lead—growing it to as large as seven—heading into the final two-plus minutes of the half.
• Closing the half, Upstate trimmed the deficit to one at the half, outscoring Gardner-Webb 7-1 over the final two-and-a-half minutes. Five points from Gainey spurred the stretch with Trae Broadnax adding the other two tallies from the free throw line.

 
Second Half

• Squelching any momentum the Spartans gained to close the first half, Gardner-Webb scored the first seven points of the second half and forced an Upstate timeout to take the half to its first media. The Runnin' Bulldogs made each of their first three attempts while the Spartans went 0-of-3 and committed a turnover.
• Out of the timeout, the Runnin' Bulldogs continued to grow their momentum, pushing its scoring run to 22 consecutive points. Gardner-Webb made its first nine field goal attempts of the second half and didn't miss its first shot in the period until the 9:58 mark.
• Cutting the lead down from 23 points, Ahmir Langlais and Mysta Goodloe led an 11-2 scoring run that followed Gardner-Webb's long stretch. Langlais scored the first six Spartan points of the half before Goodloe added the next seven.
• Upstate closed the game by scoring 11 points over the final three minutes of the game to close the deficit to 12 points. Justin Bailey scored eight of the final 11 points, pushing him to a career-high scoring total.

 
Notable

• Behind 15 second-half points—the highest scoring second half of his career—Justin Bailey scored a career-high 17 points against the Runnin' Bulldogs, securing his sixth double-figure scoring game and third scoring 16 or more points in Big South play. With his total, a Spartan has tied or set a career-high in scoring with a double-figure game in each of the last four games.
• Upstate wasted no time in extending its streak of games with a made three-pointer as Jordyn Surratt opened the scoring with a three. The streak extends to 860 games and includes each of the program's 493 games at the NCAA Division I level (2007-pres.).

 
Up Next for the Spartans
Following a three-game stretch against regional rivals, Upstate begins the rematch portion of its Big South schedule. The Spartans host Radford Saturday at 2 p.m. ET with Upstate participating in Coaches vs. Cancer, wearing special shoes and pins.
 
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