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Feb. 3, 2008

Box Score

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -

"We've been through the meat grinder this year and we've been beaten down. But, now we have some energy, we've got some juice." Eddie Payne, Upstate Head Coach

With the majority of the sports world focused on the Super Bowl in Arizona, the USC Upstate men's basketball team turned in a super performance Sunday afternoon in the Hodge Center, taking down Atlantic Sun Conference foe Mercer, 75-49, to win its second consecutive A-Sun game for the first time in program history.

With the win, Upstate improved to 6-17 overall and 4-5 in the A-Sun. Mercer fell to 9-13 overall and 4-5 in the conference. Upstate's win over the Bears followed a 71-65 victory over Kennesaw State less than 48 hours ago. The Spartans hit the road next weekend to travel to Stetson Friday and Florida Gulf Coast Sunday in A-Sun action. The Stetson game can be seen regionally, and in the Spartanburg area, on CSS at 7:30 p.m. Friday night. Check your local listings for the channel lineup.

Nick Schneiders recorded the first double-double of his career, finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds. It was his fast break dunk off of a lob pass from Luke Payne with 16:48 to play in the first half that set the tone for the game and the Spartans. The dunk gave Upstate a 9-2 lead and provided the Spartans and the home crowd energy that seemed to stay for the rest of the game.

"That was Nick's best game," said Upstate head coach Eddie Payne. "He got rebounds and made plays in a crowd when people were banging him around."

Bobby Davis followed Schneiders' dunk to give Upstate an 11-2 lead with 16:01 to go before the break. Mercer cut the lead to five on James Florence's dunk at the 15:25 mark of the half and then again on Florence's three-pointer with 15:01 to play. Upstate responded, though, with a 14-5 spurt that gave the Spartans a 14-point lead, 28-14, with 7:49 to play. Upstate was not threatened the rest of the game.

"This was the first time we have won two games in a row this year," said Payne. "It was also the first time we have played well in the second game of a conference weekend. We've been through the meat grinder this year and we've been beaten down. But, now we have some energy, we've got some juice. I don't want the guys to get too excited, though, because we have a very difficult game Friday (at Stetson)."

Upstate went into halftime with a 13-point lead, 40-27. It was the highest scoring half of the season for the Spartans, topping the 36 points scored in the first half at UNC Greensboro on Nov. 24. Upstate shot a strong 51.7 percent from the floor, including 4-of-7 from the three-point arc. The Spartans also turned in a solid defensive effort, holding Mercer to 35.5 percent shooting from the floor.

Schneiders was the man in the first half for Upstate, finishing the first 20 minutes with nine points and eight rebounds. As well as Schneiders played inside, Josh Chavis and Luke Payne were just as effective outside. Chavis tallied 12 points in the first half, while Payne turned in 10. Brian Pfohl was the bright spot for Mercer, finishing the opening half with 10 points.

As well as Upstate played offensively in the first half, the Spartans turned it up even hotter in the second. Upstate finished the half shooting a season-high 63.2 percent from the field and made 3-of-6 from the three-point arc to put any thoughts of a Mercer comeback out of reach.

Schneiders' jumper with 15:42 to play in the game gave Upstate a 20-point advantage. The lead grew to 25 points on Rashawn Brailsford's jumper with 10:18 to play. Brailsford's three-pointer with 3:32 remaining in the game gave Upstate its biggest lead of the night, 28 points, 73-45.

Upstate finished the game shooting a season-high 56.3 percent from the floor and 53.8 percent from behind the three-point arc. The Spartans benefitted from solid ball movement and timely passes. Upstate collected 23 assists on 27 made baskets.

"We had 23 assists on 27 made baskets which is am extremely good stat to look at," said Payne. "We ran our offense and made some really good passes. We were a very good passing team today."

Mercer shot just 33.3 percent from the floor for the game and made just 2-of-17 from three-point arc, including missing all nine shots from three-point territory in the second half.

Schneiders added four blocked shots and two assists to go along with his double-double. Payne finished with a game-high 20 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field, including 3-of-3 from long range, and 9-of-12 shooting from the free throw line. Chavis finished with 12 points and five assists, while Mezie Uzochukwu added 10 points for the Spartans.

Pfohl led Mercer with 13 points and six rebounds. Florence added 11 points for the Bears who began the season by shocking the college basketball world with its 96-81 victory over then-No. 18 Southern Cal. Mercer travels to Gardner-Webb Thursday for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off.