Upstate Takes Down NC Central

Since the Spartans defeated Bob Jones two weeks ago, things have taken a tough – albeit not necessarily unexpected – turn, having dropped each of their last three games.

The Spartans got back to playing against some tough but also “like” opponents the Saturday after smashing BJU 114-53 with a tough test on the road against a UNC-Wilmington squad that may very well make the NCAA tournament for the 2nd straight season. Three Upstate players scored in double figures, led by Karmani Gregory with 15 points, 2 rebounds, an assist, and 2 steals. Carmelo Adkins added 13 points – all off the bench, making him the only bench player to score in the game – with 4 boards, and Learic Davis tallied 12 with a team-high 8 rebounds, an assist, a block, and 2 steals. Mason Bendinger just missed the mark with 9 points and 2 blocked shots. In the end, the lack of production from the bench and a 21-55 effort from the field coupled with being out rebounded 42-31 was the difference as the Spartans fell 73-60.

Back at the Hodge Center last Wednesday against Tennessee Tech, Upstate battled in a game that was back-and-forth down to the wire. Adkins led the way for USC Upstate with 22 points, going 8 for 16 from the field by himself with 5 rebounds and a steal. The Spartans were fantastic at the free throw line in the first half, making 15 of 18. However, that did not carry over into the 2nd stanza, shooting just 2 of 9 from the stripe. On the flipside, Tennessee Tech was 26 for 32 from the line – which paired with the Spartans getting out rebounded 42-29, was the difference in the game as Upstate dropped a close one 88-84.

This past Friday at West Georgia, Upstate had its worst offensive showing of the season to date. The Spartans started the game with an 8-0 run, but went cold as a frozen turkey in the segment that followed. West Georgia answered with a 10-2 run and basically never looked back. Although the Spartans did fight their way back into striking distance multiple times, by the time the clock hit triple zeros, the story was familiar. Upstate lost the battle on the boards 48-36, shot 24-69 as a team (including 6 for 24 from three point range), and only 2 scored in double figures. Bendinger put up 21 points to go with 3 rebounds, an assist, and a steal while Adkins had 19 with 5 rebounds, an assist, and a swipe. All of that came in another game that USC Upstate let get away from them down the stretch, falling 72-64.

The Spartans returned home Tuesday night, looking to head into the Thanksgiving Holiday back on track with some positive momentum, hosting the North Carolina Central Eagles (2-5). They got off to an ideal start, scoring right off the tip on a layup from Gregory. At the first media timeout, Upstate led 12-7. But in near deja-vu fashion to last Friday, the second 4 minutes did not fare as well for them and things got sloppy for both sides. The Spartans went 1 for their next 7 from the field, but fortunately the Eagles were not able to capitalize, being held without a basket for over 2 minutes ahead of the under 12 stoppage, where Upstate led 15-8.

The mutual sloppy play continued through the next stage when North Carolina Central went on a 1 for 10 stretch. But, this time it was Upstate that was unable to capitalize, instead going on a 5 minute scoreless skid of their own that allowed the Eagles to make a 6-0 run into the under-8. Jafeth Martinez finally got the Spartans off the schneid with a jumper for 2 at the 7:01 mark, which sparked a personal 7-0 run for him. That burst led to a 9-2 overall push before the final media timeout of the half when Kanye Jones made a layup where he was fouled going up to prompt the stoppage. Jones converted the and-1 out of the break, making it a 10-2 spurt that gave the Spartans a 29-22 lead that they kept building on, ending the first half on a buzzer beating three from Bendinger to give them a 39-24 advantage at the intermission.

Upstate was in charge for all but the final 2 minutes and 15 seconds of the first segment of the second half, which let NCCU chip their way back in with a 6-0 burst. That push extended to 10-0 as the Spartans’ skid stretched to just over 3 minutes in length, not to be broken until Gregory drained a three at the 14:12 mark. The 2 sides traded baskets after that until USC Upstate went on a 7-0 run ahead of the under 12 media timeout with layups from Coen Collier and Karmani Gregory, capped by a three from Isaiah Skinner.

Upstate would pull away over the remainder of the 2nd half, eventually securing an 82-67 win to get their record back to .500 on the season at 4-4, which Coach Richter quickly credited to a changeup in the way they prepared compared to how they had been for the 3 previous contests.

“I thought the last 2 days of this week were really good in practice”, said USC Upstate Head Coach Marty Richter after the victory. “The last two days of practice, the team was really inspired to practice. When you get going in these long seasons, which we are a fourth of the way through, sometimes you get into a lull. How do you get out of that lull? You have to change up what you are doing in practice. We have the things we do every day. But I changed some things and forced some things to be player-led. They responded and you could see the change in this game. They responded and that was beautiful to see as a coach.”

Once again, Bendinger led the way for the Spartans, posting a 19-point game – a late missed free throw away from three consecutive 20 point games. Mason would also add 2 rebounds, and 2 assists in the win.

“Mason is a guy that you can just throw the ball to in a lot of different areas and he can go get you a bucket”, said Richter. “He’s got a soft touch around the rim. Tonight, he did not shoot as well as he normally does. He missed a few easy ones that he normally makes. But, he is such a good scorer. He is an old-school player. He reminds me of Adrian Dantley or a Bernard King with that body type. Maybe Bonzi Wells in the 2000s. He is an old school scorer and our guys are starting to figure that out with him. He has played well lately, but as we as a group continue to figure out our roles, he knows that though he is a scorer, he also has to make plays for others because he is a playmaker.”

Gregory was the 2nd leading scorer with 17, five assists, 2 boards, and 2 steals. Martinez finished with 16 points on a perfect 5 for 5 night from the floor, 5 rebounds, and 5 blocks. Carmelo Adkins was next closest with 8 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and a blocked shot.

As a team, there were a lot of positives. USC Upstate shot 27 for 53 from the field (nearly 51%). They were just 9 for 20 from three point range, but went 19 for 26 from the charity stripe. The Spartans also pulled down 39 total rebounds and had 20 assists as a squad. While that is a lot to build on, the Spartans will have to shore up on their offensive rebounding and turnovers (which they had 16 of that led to 18 points for North Carolina Central) ahead of their next game this Saturday afternoon at Nebraska.

“Tonight, we did a good job on their {NCCU’s} shooter, Gage Lattimore. He is a really good player, and I thought we did a good job. But, it’s gonna be a tough assignment on Saturday when we go to play Nebraska”, Richter stated with emphasis. “We are going to play against a kid named Pryce Sandfort. I have known him since he was 5, 6, or 7 years old. He was playing at Iowa last year and he is an elite shooter. I think he has made 20 of 50 threes this year in just 6 games. They make 11 threes per game. So we are really going to have to work on being in-to-out of their shooters. Lastly, we have got to rebound.”

Saturday’s tilt with the Cornhuskers will tip off at 2:00 PM from Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln.