SPARTANBURG, S.C. – In front of an energized crowd that enthusiastically welcomed the Spartans back to the G.B. Hodge Center, USC Upstate men's basketball's latest entanglement proved a fervent display of the program's pluck as it took until the final minute for a verdict to be received in the team's battle with UNCW. The Spartans and Seahawks took things to the wire with the game decided in the final seconds as UNCW outlasted Upstate for an 89-85 victory.
 
Friday evening's game featured 18 lead changes and 13 ties as the two sides held nearly identical time with the lead—Upstate leading for 18:53 and UNCW leading for 17:21—as neither side grew a lead greater than six points.
 
Junior guard Brit Harris paced all scores Friday, pouring in 20 points—his highest-scoring game in an Upstate uniform—behind a 7-of-10 shooting performance (2-of-5 from three) from the field and 4-of-4 from the free throw line. He also pulled in a season-high eight rebounds as he bid for his first double-double of the year.
 
Three other Spartans ended the night in double-figures with redshirt sophomore guard Karmani Gregory, freshman guard Mister Dean, and junior forward Breylin Garcia comprising the trio with 17, 14, and 10 points, respectively.
 
Game Information
Score: UNCW 89; USC Upstate 85
Records: USC Upstate (1-4; 0-0 Big South); UNCW (3-0; 0-0 CAA)
Location: G.B. Hodge Center | Spartanburg, S.C.
 
How It Happened
First Half

• Despite seeing its opponent score the first bucket of the game for the fifth straight contest, Upstate wasted little time with its response as Mister Dean hit a layup on the ensuing possession. The Seahawks, however, answered with back-to-back threes on its next two possessions to build its largest lead of the game—six points. Dean cut into the UNCW advantage with an and-one conversion, scoring the first five points of the night for Upstate.
• Battling its way to the lead for the first time Friday evening, Upstate crafted its longest scoring run as UNCW pushed the advantage back to five. A pull-up jumper from Carmelo Adkins sparked the Spartans' scoring stretch before Dean closed the stretch with a dunk and layup, giving him nine of the team's first 11 points.
• Seeing the Spartans' scoring run snapped by a UNCW field goal with 15:02 to play in the half, the field goal kicked off a nearly five-and-a-half minute stretch of back-and-forth basketball with neither side notching consecutive field goals in that time. Chico Johnson and Brit Harris combined for the game's first run in nearly six minutes with a three and layup to push the Spartans' lead back to five.
• Closing the opening period, Upstate built its halftime lead with four field goals over the final three-and-a-half minutes as opposed to a single field goal from the Seahawks. The Spartans' also benefit from a pair of made threes to close the half, coming from Harris and Andrew McConnell with McConnell's trey upping the lead to five at the break.

 
Second Half

• Out of the locker room, UNCW batted its way back to tie the game as it opened the new half with five straight markers, the first three coming from the charity stripe. Upstate countered the Seahawks' initial second-half flurry with consecutive buckets from Johnson and Gregory to retake the lead. The markers set up a five-and-a-half-minute stretch for UNCW without a field goal though the Seahawks kept things close by going 4-of-4 from the free throw line.
• Snapping its field goal drought, UNCW knocked down consecutive field goals to deliver its first lead of the second half with 12:22 to play. The next two minutes saw both sides trading the lead as neither side connected consecutive field goals, a trend that persisted throughout the remainder of the game. UNCW ended the back-and-forth aspect of the contest with a five-point run to retake the lead for the final time.
• Out of the final media timeout, Upstate continued its fight as it looked to erase the Seahawk lead in the final minutes. The first instance occurred following the timeout as Harris canned a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to one—the smallest it would get over the final four minutes.  Harris again put the Spartans within a possession with 13 seconds remaining, knocking down a three to pull the lead down to two.

 
Notable

• Friday evening's game marked the first of the 2024-25 season to see a different leading scorer for the Spartans as Brit Harris took the mantle against UNCW. His 20 markers behind a 7-of-10 shooting performance stands as his best scoring game in an Upstate uniform.
• Pulling in eight rebounds as he bid for his first Upstate double-double, Harris' rebounding total makes him the fourth different Spartan to record eight-plus rebounds in a game this season. The total marks the fifth instance of a Spartan pulling in eight-plus rebounds.

 
Up Next for the Spartans
For the first time during the 2024-25 season, USC Upstate continues a homestand as it welcomes Southern Wesleyan to the G.B. Hodge Center Tuesday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET.
 
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