CHARLESTON, S.C. – On the road for the second time in Big South play, USC Upstate men's basketball battled throughout the afternoon but couldn't prevail in a game that turned out being a tale of two halves in a 77-70 setback at Charleston Southern.
 
The Spartans came out strong in the first half, heading into the locker room with a 10-point advantage as they shot 62.5 percent (15-of-24) from the field, including 66.7 percent (4-of-6) from three. The Buccaneers on the other hand, finished the first half shooting 33.3 percent before seeing the percentages flip in the second stanza with Upstate shooting 34.8 percent (8-of-23) and Charleston Southern shooting 64.0 percent from the field.
 
Reaching the 20-point plateau for the third time in his career, redshirt junior guard Trae Broadnax led all scorers as he dropped a career-best 23 markers, going 7-of-12 from the floor, 2-of-3 from three, and 7-of-7 from the line while adding three assists and two steals on the afternoon. Three other Spartans joined him in double-figures as graduate student guard Nick Alves, sophomore guard Justin Bailey, and sophomore forward Jorge Ochoa added 15, 10, and 10 points respectively.
 
For Alves, Saturday's game marked his fourth consecutive scoring 15 or more points while Ochoa's double-figure scoring game stands as the first double-figure scoring game of his career.
 
Game Information
Score: Charleston Southern 77; USC Upstate 70
Records: USC Upstate (5-11; 0-3 Big South); Charleston Southern (6-11; 2-2 Big South)
Location: Buccaneer Fieldhouse | Charleston, S.C.
 
How It Happened
First Half

• Despite seeing Charleston Southern open the afternoon's scoring, Upstate answered back and took the lead—a lead it wouldn't relinquish for the remainder of the half. The Spartans scored the next six points as Justin Bailey knocked down a pull-up jumper and a pair of free throws and Nick Alves knifed to the hoop for a layup.
• After seeing the Buccaneers snap the Spartans' run and the two teams trade three-pointers, Upstate embarked on its longest scoring run of the half as the lead grew to nine with the 7-0 scoring stretch. Defense turned to offense as Alves threw down a fastbreak slam to start the run with Trae Broadnax adding an old-fashioned three-point play and Jalen Breazeale seeing a floater fall.
• Charleston Southern snapped the run as it saw its fortunes begin to change as it outscored Upstate 10-5 over the next five minutes as the game barreled toward the under-eight media timeout. The Buccaneers trimmed the Spartan advantage to four, but Braodnax kept the Spartans ahead with all five points in the stretch.
• Pushing the lead to its largest of the half (10 points), Jorge Ochoa and Broadnax stymied the Buccaneers' run with back-to-back threes. Over the final seven minutes of the half, Upstate stayed ahead of Charleston Southern before Broadnax and Ochoa connected again on a pick-and-roll bucket at the horn to push the halftime lead to 10.

Second Half

• Coming out of the locker room, Upstate grew its double-digit lead to its largest as Broadnax knocked down a pair from the charity stripe to push the advantage to 12. Charleston Southern answered with a three to pull things back into single digits before the two teams traded baskets into the under-16 media stoppage, keeping the lead hovering between eight and 10 points.
• As the game progressed toward the under-12 media timeout, the Buccaneers began chipping into the Spartans' lead as the game continued a back-and-forth flavor. Charleston Southern outscored Upstate seven to four in the stretch but held the Spartans to just one field goal attempt as the lead trimmed to five in favor of Upstate.
• Spanning the under-12 media timeout and stretching over a period of nearly seven minutes, Charleston Southern built the game's longest scoring run as they crafted a 16-0 scoring run. During the stretch, the Buccaneers held Upstate without a field goal for the seven-minute stretch before Ochoa rose up from the left wing, knocking down a three.
• Ochoa's three-pointer kickstarted an Upstate comeback attempt as it started a stretch that saw the Spartans outscore the Buccaneers 12 to seven as the game neared the final two minutes. The three-ball helped the run as all three Upstate field goals came from outside the arc to pull the deficit to as little as four points. Charleston Southern, however, stayed just ahead of the Spartans over the final two minutes, going 7-of-8 from the line to close out the game.

 
Notable

• Leading the Spartans with a game-high 23 points, Trae Broadnax's career-high scoring game marked the highest-scoring single-game effort for a Spartan this season—the team's fourth individual 20-plus point scoring game. His 23 points against the Buccaneers are the most by a Spartan since Jordan Gainey tallied 25 markers against Gardner-Webb on March 3, 2023.
• Finishing the afternoon going 6-of-8 from the floor and totaling 15 points, Nick Alves registered his fourth straight game scoring 15 or more points while making at least six field goals. His fourth 15-plus point game of the season equals the number of 15-plus point scoring games (four) in his Upstate career entering the season.
• With Charleston Southern hitting 19-of-20 attempts from the free throw line Saturday, opponents have made 43-of-44 attempts from the charity stripe against Spartans in Big South Conference games the Spartans are playing on the road. Saturday's contest comes after UNC Asheville finished 24-of-24 from the free throw line in the Spartans' conference opener on Jan. 3.
• Hitting seven threes versus Charleston Southern, Upstate improved its streak of consecutive games with at least one made three-pointer to 888 games, a streak dating back to the 1994-95 season. The streak includes each of the Spartans' 519 games at the NCAA Division I level (2007-pres.).

 
Up Next for the Spartans
Upholding a streak of alternating home and road contests to begin Big South play, Upstate returns home next Wednesday for a tilt with Longwood. The Spartans and Lancers tip-off from the G.B. Hodge Center at 7 p.m. ET.

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