RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Opening the new season in the Golden State, Upstate Men's Basketball took the court against California Baptist University where the Spartans cut the Lancers' lead to six charging for a second half comeback. Cal Baptist held off the late game heroics to take the win over the Spartans for the season opener with a final score of 87-75. 

The Spartans were led by Karmani Gregory with 22 points while shooting 9-for-13 from the field, 2-for-6 from beyond the arc, and 2-for-3 from the charity stripe. Learic Davis made his Spartans' debut with a 15-point outing marking a new career-high adding five rebounds, one block, and one steal while shooting 5-for-7 from the field and a team best 50 percent from the three-point line. Mason Bendinger followed with 10 points shooting 4-for-13 from the field while shooting 33 percent from the three-point line. 

Cal Baptist outdueled the Spartans with 54 points in the paint compared to Upstate's 34 while also edging past Upstate in the points off turnovers battle with 19 compared to seven. The Spartans won the fastbreak battle with 11 to the Lancers' six. On the rebounding side, the Lancers corralled 38 total (13 offensive and 25 defensive) compared to the Spartans' 30 (eight offensive and 22 defensive). 

Game Information 

USC Upstate 75; Cal Baptist 87 

Records: USC Upstate (0-1; 0-0 Big South) vs. Cal Baptist (1-0; 0-0 WAC) 

Location: CBU Events Center | Riverside, Calif. 

How it Happened 

First Half 

• Learic Davis and Karmani Gregory scored the opening points from a fastbreak dunk and a layup. The Spartans responded to an early 7-0 run from Cal Baptist with an and-one layup from Karmani Gregory along with two consecutive threes from Gregory and Learic Davis to take the lead 18-16. 

• Cal Baptist responded with a 18-5 run towards the end of the first half pushing their lead to 39-25.  

• A three-pointer from Mason Bendinger halted the run but the Lancers responded with a layup ending the first half with a 41-28 lead at the break. 

Second Half 

• The Lancers opened the second half with a 11-3 run pushing their lead to 51-32 at the 16:24 mark. Two free throws from Learic Davis, an and-one layup from Karmani Gregory and converted jumper Mason Bendinger gave Upstate a boost while trailing 57-41. 

• Following two made free throws from Carmelo Adkins and a media timeout, Upstate added a 6-0 run from a tip-in layup from Breylin Garcia, a layup from Tyler Smith and an and-one layup from Garcia cutting the Lancers' lead to nine. 

• The Spartans continued to fight their way back under the 10 minute mark with Camelo Adkins converting on the layup and Tyler Smith drawing a foul in the paint for two free throws made from the stripe. A three-pointer from Karmani Gregory brought Cal Baptist's lead to 61-57 at the 8:38 mark. 

• The Lancers battled back getting in the driver's seat with a mid range jumper and three-pointer extending their lead back to 71-62. 

• Cal Baptist used their paint presence to draw fouls and move their lead back to double digits by the 1:11 mark. The Lancers finished making their last five out of six free throws in the last minute. 

Notable 

• Karmani Gregory led the Spartans with 22 points while shooting 2-for-6 from the three-point line and adding one steal. 

• Upstate's starting lineup featured four newcomers of Tyler Smith, Mason Bendinger, Learic Davis, and Jafeth Martinez being in the lineup. 

• Learic Davis' 15 point outing surpassed his previous career high of 12 points (Dec. 22, 2024) scored at Milwaukee. 

• Sophomore, Carmelo Adkins and Junior, Coen Collier both led the Spartans with six rebounds apiece. 

Up next for the Spartans 

Upstate will continue their trip in California as they now turn their focus to Fresno State for a Wednesday night battle on the Mountain West Digital Network beginning at 6:00 P.M. Pacific Time and 9:00 P.M. Eastern time. 

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