SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Seeking to remain undefeated on its home floor during Big South Conference play, USC Upstate men's basketball attempted a second-half comeback in its quest for a second straight victory at the G.B. Hodge Center before ultimately falling short in a 80-67 setback Saturday versus Radford.
 
Heading a trio of double-figure Spartan scorers, freshman guard Mister Dean notched his fifth-straight contest scoring 15 or more points—the longest such streak of his career—finishing with 16 points. His scoring total came behind a 5-for-7 offering from the floor, including a 50.0 percent (2-of-4) clip from long range with his two made treys a career-high.
 
Freshman guard Carmelo Adkins and junior forward Breylin Garcia registered 12 points and seven rebounds, rounding out the trio of double-figure scoring Spartans and pacing the Spartans on the boards. Adkins notched seven of his 12 points from the charity stripe, adding three steals and two assists to his totals. Garcia finished 5-of-7 from the floor as he complemented his totals with two blocks, one assist, and one steal.
 
Game Information
Score: Radford 80; USC Upstate 67
Records: USC Upstate (5-13; 1-2 Big South); Radford (12-6; 2-1 Big South)
Location: G.B. Hodge Center | Spartanburg, S.C.
 
How It Happened
First Half

• Shortly after the opening tap, both Radford and Upstate scored on their opening possessions beginning a stretch of the sides trading field goals—Upstate answering Radford—over the game's first four minutes. The Spartans struck first in stringing together a scoring run as the final bucket in the six-field goal stretch, a three from Mister Dean, fueled a 9-0 scoring run as Upstate crafted its largest lead of the day at six points.
• The Highlanders countered the Spartans' longest first-half scoring run with a 7-0 scoring run, its longest of the half, to regain the lead. Radford built upon its scoring run by outscoring Upstate 18-9 into the under-eight media stoppage. The Spartans, however, knocked down three three-pointers in the stretch, keeping the deficit at three at the under-eight timeout.
• Hitting from behind the three-point line on three successive possessions, the Highlanders built their largest advantage of the opening stanza, growing the lead to eight with 4:28 remaining in the period. The Radford lead reached eight two additional times over the final four minutes before the break with Upstate cutting it to four with a short 4-0 spurt with 2:14 to play, capped by an alley-oop tip-in from Brit Harris off an in-bound pass. At the break, the lead sat at six as Dean hit a pair of attempts from the charity stripe.

 
Second Half

• Opening the second half, Upstate held Radford without a field goal for nearly four minutes as it attempted to dig into the lead. The Highlanders, however, broke the field goal drought with a 13-0 scoring run, pushing its advantage to the game's largest at 19 points at the 14:40 mark of the second half.
• The Spartans countered the run with a 7-2 scoring stretch as they whittled away at the lead with five of the team's points in the stretch coming from the charity stripe with Carmelo Adkins hitting five times. Brit Harris ended the streak with the Spartans' first field goal in nearly 10 minutes as the layup kickstarted a 12-3 scoring streak, allowing Upstate to cut the disadvantage to seven with 6:39 to play behind a 10-0 scoring run.
• Building back its lead, Radford responded to the Spartan scoring stretch with a 9-1 margin of its own, growing the lead back to 15. Upstate and Radford remained even over the game's final four minutes—Upstate holding a two-point advantage to close the game—as the final margin cemented at 13.

 
Notable

• Pouring in 16 points Saturday versus Radford, Mister Dean secured his 11^th game scoring 15 or more points during the 2024-25 season, doing so in five straight games. His five-game stretch of scoring 15-plus points is the longest by a Spartan this season.

 
Up Next for the Spartans
Returning to the road as conference play rolls on, USC Upstate heads to UNC Asheville to renew the Ingles I-26 Rivalry Series on the hardwood. Tip-off between the Spartans and Bulldogs is set for 6:30 p.m. ET Wednesday.
 
Connect with the Spartans 
Facebook.com/UpstateAthletics 
Twitter | @UpstateMBB | @UpstateSpartans 
Instagram | @Upstate_MBB | @UpstateSpartans 
YouTube.com/UpstateSpartans
 
INVEST IN CHAMPIONS - Join the Upstate Athletic Fund (UAF) and enjoy enhanced benefits for your support of all USC Upstate programs! Make your gift today, click here!