HIGH POINT, N.C. – Heading to the site of the 2024 Big South Men's Basketball Championship, USC Upstate men's basketball and High Point offered a prelude to the impending conference championship with a heavyweight bout Wednesday night at the Qubein Center.
 
A prize fight befitting March saw Upstate erase a 20-point first-half deficit by continuing to chip away throughout regulation, taking the lead for the first time with 5:34 to play in the second half—the team's lone advantage in regulation. The Spartans battled back to send the game to overtime before controlling momentum in the extra period to capture the road victory.
 
Scoring 17 of his game-high 22 points in the second half and overtime, graduate student guard Miguel Ayesa fashioned his best scoring game in a Spartan uniform, putting forth a season-best scoring performance by finishing the night 6-of-8 from three. He was joined on the 20-point plateau—giving Upstate two 20-plus point scorers since Dec. 10, 2022—by sophomore guard Justin Bailey who ended his night with 20 markers.
 
Redshirt junior guard Trae Broadnax and redshirt senior forward Ahmir Langlais finished the night in double-figures, contributing 18 and 13 points, respectively. Langlais also paced Upstate on the glass with eight boards while Broadnax orchestrated the offense to the tune of a game-high four assists.
 
Game Information
Score: USC Upstate 86; High Point 81 [OT]
Records: USC Upstate (9-16; 4-8 Big South); High Point (21-6; 10-2 Big South)
Location: Qubein Center | High Point, N.C.
 
How It Happened
First Half

• Taking the opening tap, High Point raced out to an early advantage as it opened the game on an 8-0 scoring run before Trae Broadnax broke the seal on the hoop for the Spartans with a pull-up jumper. A pair of dunks spanning the under-12 media timeout from the Panthers expanded their lead to double-figures for the first time on the night.
• Facing a double-digit deficit, Upstate battled back to trim the disadvantage to six, culminating with a three-point play from Nick Alves. The Panthers began growing their lead as they held the Spartans without a field goal for over two and a half minutes, doubling up the Spartans at the end of the stretch before growing the lead to as many as 20 with 5:55 to play in the half.
• Whittling away at the High Point lead that remained at 20 with 4:26 to play in the period, the Spartans closed the half on a 12-0 scoring run, cutting the deficit at the break to eight. Justin Bailey led the scoring run with seven of the 12 points while Miguel Ayesa added the other five.

 
Second Half

• Spanning the halftime break, Upstate pushed its game-long scoring run to 14 as Ahmir Langlais sank a hook shot from the lane to begin the second-half scoring. High Point, however, responded with a 6-0 scoring run to grow the lead back to double-figures.
• Seeing the lead back in double-figures for the final time with 13:58 to play in regulation, the Spartans began fighting back, embarking on a 17-6 scoring stretch to tie the game for the first time with 8:15 to play in the half with Floyd Rideau Jr. hitting two crucial threes to force the deadlock.
• Out of the under-eight media timeout, Bailey delivered Upstate its first lead with 5:34 to play as he drove the lane to lay one home. High Point responded to tilt the game back in its favor heading into the final minute, but Ayesa showed his resolve as he drained two late half threes to force overtime.

 
Overtime

• Despite High Point getting the first point of the extra period from the free throw line, Ayesa made it three consecutive field goals for the Spartans with another trey, delivering a lead Upstate wouldn't relinquish for the remainder of the night.
• Bailey created a six-point swing for the Spartans to build their largest lead of the overtime period as he earned his fourth four-point play of the year to cap his scoring run. The Panthers fought back to tie the game with a 6-0 run of their own, but Ayesa hit another three to put Upstate back on top before he iced the game with two free throws with eight seconds to play.

 
Notable

• Heading to overtime for the third time this season, Upstate broke through in the extra period and captured the program's first overtime victory since Dec. 10, 2022, an overtime victory at the G.B. Hodge Center over South Carolina State.
• The Spartans' latest overtime win featured a similar catalyst to the team's last extra-period win as Miguel Ayesa (22) and Justin Bailey (20) each finished the night with 20-plus points. The game was the first for Upstate with multiple 20-plus point scorers since Dec. 10, 2022.
• Knocking off Big South-leading High Point Wednesday, Upstate became the first visiting team to defeat the Panthers on their home floor in 2023-24, snapping a 15-game home winning streak for the Panthers, one of the longest in the country.
• Hitting nine threes Wednesday versus High Point, Upstate improved its streak of consecutive games with at least one made-three pointer to 897 games, a streak dating back to the 1994-95 season. The stretch also includes each of the Spartans' 528 games at the NCAA Division I level (2007-pres.).

 
Up Next for the Spartans
Beginning the team's longest stretch of home games during Big South play, Upstate returns home to the G.B. Hodge Center to celebrate Homecoming. The Spartans host Gardner-Webb as the back half of a men's and women's basketball doubleheader with tip-off slated for 4:30 p.m. ET Saturday.
 
Parking alert for Homecoming Basketball Doubleheader on February 17
Fans attending the Homecoming basketball doubleheader on Saturday, February 17, please note the updates for parking and ticketing for the event including the conversion of all parking lots on campus (west of the arboretum) to paid parking. For more details visit upstatespartans.com.
 
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