CLINTON, S.C. – Closing the front half of the team's Big South Conference schedule and finishing a two-game road stretch, USC Upstate men's basketball showed fight in a second-half comeback attempt that fell just short Wednesday evening in an 80-73 setback at Presbyterian.
 
Leading the Spartans back before the half, sophomore guard Justin Bailey finished the opening frame with 15 of his team-high 17 markers in the opening period as he scored the final four points of the half to send Upstate to the locker room trailing by one. In the second half, he was joined in double-figures by redshirt junior guard Trae Broadnax and redshirt senior forward Ahmir Langlais who notched 10 points apiece in the frame as the Spartans sought a second-half comeback, finishing the night with 14 and 10 points, respectively.
 
Supplementing his team-high 17 points, Bailey secured a pair of career-highs against the Blue Hose, setting career high-water marks in rebounds and made field goals with seven apiece. He finished his night shooting 63.6 percent (7-of-11) from the floor as all three Spartans making five or more field goals ended the evening shooting greater than 50.0 percent from the field.
 
Game Information
Score: Presbyterian 80; USC Upstate 73
Records: USC Upstate (6-15; 1-7 Big South); Presbyterian (10-13; 2-6 Big South)
Location: Templeton Center | Clinton, S.C.
 
How It Happened
First Half

• Controlling the opening tip, Presbyterian opened the night's scoring with a pull-up jumper in the lane, but Upstate provided the quick answer as Miguel Ayesa knocked down a wing three on the Spartans' first possession. The Blue Hose staked a four-point lead with the next two baskets before Eduardo Placer and Justin Bailey rebutted the Presbyterian buckets to send the Spartans to the advantage into the under-16 media.
• Out of the stoppage, the Blue Hose retook the lead by scoring five of the next seven points—broken up from being a scoring run by another Bailey bucket—to reestablish a four-point advantage. The Spartans defense helped stem the tide an tie the ball game as Bailey added another tally and Jalen Breazeale swiped a steal, leading to a fastbreak bucket and a tie game with 13:02 to play.
• Bridging the under-12 media timeout, Upstate built its largest lead of the game as Bailey knotted things up into the stoppage before Floyd Rideau Jr. canned a wing three to deliver the Spartans a three-point edge. The Spartans answered five attempts from the Blue Hose to regain the lead as the game headed toward the final media stoppage, the final lead coming with 5:19 to play.
• Seeing Upstate withstand its attempts to retake the lead, Presbyterian fashioned its longest scoring run of the first half, a 7-0 run, to regain the advantage with a five-point lead with two minutes remaining. Justin Bailey chewed into the lead before the half, scoring the final four points of the period to trim the deficit to one at the break.

 
Second Half

• Out of the locker room, Upstate erased the halftime deficit as Ayesa drained his second triple of the night to open the second half scoring before hitting his third trey off a five-point Presbyterian swing to give the Spartans back the lead. Building off the second three-pointer, the Spartans crafted a 10-2 scoring run to build the team's largest advantage at five points with 14:02 to play.
• Facing its largest deficit of the night, Presbyterian battled back with the game's longest scoring stretch, stringing together eight consecutive markers. Breazeale snapped the scoring run with a layup to trim the lead to one and set up a stretch of alternating scoring from the two sides heading towards the final seven minutes of the night.
• With the game tied at 60 following consecutive makes at the free throw line from Trae Broadnax, the Blue Hose snapped the back-and-forth nature of the game, scoring six straight points to take the lead for the final time. The Spartans responded with a 4-0 run to cut the lead to two with Alves punctuating the consecutive scores with a one-handed slam.
• Reverting back to the alternating nature of the scoring following Alves' dunk, Upstate remained within striking distance as the clock dwindled. Presbyterian stayed just ahead of the Spartans as a three over the game's final minute kept the lead for the Blue Hose before they wrapped the night with five of the final seven points to ice the game.

 
Notable

• Shooting 32-of-61 from the field Wednesday versus Presbyterian, Upstate secured its fifth game of the season with a field goal percentage greater than 50.0 percent (52.5 percent). The game marked the first this season to see the Spartans fall, entering the game with a 4-0 record when shooting better than 50.0 percent from the floor.
• With both teams committing 10 turnovers apiece, Wednesday's game snapped a streak of five straight games for the Spartans winning the turnover margin. The contest marked the third time this season the margin sat even and the sixth time the margin didn't favor Upstate.
• Hitting four threes against the Blue Hose, Upstate improved its streak of consecutive games with at least one made-three pointer to 893 games, a streak dating back to the 1994-95 season. The stretch also includes each of the Spartans' 524 games at the NCAA Division I level (2007-pres.)

 
Up Next for the Spartans
As the league slate swings back to the rematch portion of the schedule, Upstate begins the second half of the conference campaign at the G.B. Hodge Center versus Radford. The Spartans look to avenge a 64-61 last-second loss to the Highlanders on Jan. 20 as things tip off Saturday at 4 p.m. ET.
 
Join Us for the Spartan Winter Golf Classic Supporting the Upstate Athletic Fund
The USC Upstate Athletic Fund will host the Spartan Winter Golf Classic on Saturday, February 3, 2024, at Woodfin Ridge Golf Club in Inman, S.C. The Spartan Winter Golf Classic is a signature event on the Upstate Athletic Fund (UAF) calendar with proceeds directly benefiting Spartan athletics and the on-field efforts of its student-athletes. Registration and sponsorship information is now available online, click here for complete details.
 
USC Upstate Sponsoring I-26 Rivalry Canned Food Drive Presented by Ingles
Help the Spartans score three bonus points in the yearlong rivalry series against UNC Asheville, the Ingles I-26 Rivalry, by donating canned and non-perishable food items when you attend home events through Saturday, February 10! Donations are accepted at the Hodge Center every day including gamedays and look for more Ingles store drop-off locations and special incentives for donations on our @UpstateSpartans social media accounts! All donations support Miracle Hill Ministries in Spartanburg.
 
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