HIGH POINT, N.C. - Battling on the hardwood for Saturday night action in Big South play, Upstate Men's Basketball traveled to High Point where the Panthers were able to outscore the Spartans 36-16 in the final 12 minutes to overcome Upstate with an 89-69 final. 

Learic Davis led with 17 points on the night shooting 6-for-10 from the field, while adding a new career high of four made three-pointers. Carmelo Adkins followed with 15 points shooting 5-for-11 from the field, 2-for-7 from beyond the arc and 3-for-3 from the charity stripe. Adkins added four rebounds and tied first leading Upstate with three assists. Rounding out the double figure scorers, Mason Bendinger added 11 points while grabbing five rebounds and three assists. Jafeth Martinez made his presence known in the paint with 11 rebounds (eight offensive and three defensive) marking his third game with 10+ rebounds on the season. Martinez' helped Upstate grab a total of 13 offensive rebounds in the first half. With his 11 rebounds, the Spartans were able to grab a total of 40 rebounds (17 offensive and 23 defensive). High Point outdueled the Spartans in the paint winning the battle 44 to 28 along with adding 21 second chance points. The Panthers relished on the turnover battle forcing 15 and scoring 16 points off turnovers. Upstate made the most of their opportunities at the charity stripe winning the free throw battle for the second consecutive game shooting 75 percent as a team compared to High Point's 71. 

Game Information 

Score: High Point 89; USC Upstate 69 

Records: USC Upstate (9-11; 1-4 Big South) vs. High Point (17-4; 5-1 Big South) 

Location: Qubein Arena| High Point, North Carolina 

How it Happened 

First Half 

• High Point jumped ahead with a 12-3 run with six of their points coming from the beyond the arc. Upstate halted the run as Learic Davis converted the corner three followed by the next three scores coming from Carmelo Adkins, cutting the deficit to five. 

• High Point continued to stretch the floor with another triple moving their lead to 20-12. Carmelo Adkins responded with a corner three of his own which sparked the offense for Upstate under the 10-minute mark. 

• As the Spartans settled into their offense, the paint action began to pay dividends for Upstate with a layup from Learic Davis and Jafeth Martinez being the cleanup man with second chance points on the dunk in the next possession. 

• With High Point's lead now in single digits under the five-minute mark, the Spartans continued chomping at the Panthers as Learic Davis converted his second triple followed by the next possession ending with Karmani Gregory finishing the layup bringing the Panthers' lead to 30-29.  

• High Point added one more triple in the half and two free throws going into the break leading 35-31. 

Second Half 

• The action picked up in the second half with Upstate quickly cutting their deficit to three with back-to-back triples from Learic Davis and Carmelo Adkins. 

• High Point began to attack the paint more in the second half, using more opportunities to get to the cup and force their way to the free throw line to stay in the lead. 

• As Upstate continued getting in the fight, Tyler Smith surveyed the defense to drive the paint on his own for the and-one layup and converted free throw knotting the game at 53. 

• Following the under 12 media timeout, High Point outscored the Spartans 36-16 to wipe away the back-and-forth battle finishing with an 89-69 final. 

Notable 

• Since the New Year began, Learic Davis has scored 15+ points in three out of four games played (18, 22, 17) jumping his season average to 10 points a game. Through the week of Jan. 12-17, Davis averaged 19.5 points shooting 66 percent from the field, 62 percent from beyond the arc, and 75 percent from the charity stripe. 

• Jafeth Martinez continued moved his season total of blocks to 37 and currently is on a three-game streak of one or more blocks. On the boards, Martinez tied his game high of offensive rebounds with eight (last performance of eight offensive boards being against West Georgia on Nov. 21, 2025). 

• Tyler Smith continues to stretch the floor with his third game with two or more triples made in a game. 

Up next for the Spartans  

Following the two-game roadstand, Upstate Men's Basketball returns to Hub City for a Tuesday night Ingles I-26 Rivalry battle hosting UNC Asheville at 6:00 P.M. Eastern time live on ESPN+ at the G.B. Hodge Center.  

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