USC Upstate Wins Thriller Over Presbyterian

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Jay Free finished with 22 points and Nick Schneiders, all 7-2 of him, played a key role throughout the night as USC Upstate took a thrilling 68-64 victory over Presbyterian Tuesday night at the Hodge Center.

Upstate improves to 6-3 on the year, while Presbyterian falls to 5-2.  The Spartans travel to Mars Hill Saturday for a 4 p.m. tip-off, while the Blue Hose travel to Georgia College & State next Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. start.

Sean Dixon matched his season-high of 21 points that he notched in the Blue Hose’s victory over North Greenville on November 21.

Schneiders has seen action in three games previously this season, though he averaged just over four minutes of playing time per game entering Tuesday’s contest.  In his first significant action of the season, the Rietberg, Germany native played 22 minutes and finished with three points, three blocked shots, and a team-high six rebounds.  He also altered several Blue Hose shots.

The game was nip and tuck throughout.  Presbyterian looked strong early, building an 11-point lead nine minutes into the game and holding onto a 10-point advantage with 5:57 to play.  However, Upstate battled back with an 11-0 run to close the half to take a 34-31 lead at the intermission.  Schneiders tipped the ball in with one second to play to give the Spartans the three-point advantage.  It was his first field goal of his collegiate career.

Free had 13 points in the first half to pace the Spartans, while Presbyterian’s Dixon had 11 in the opening 20 minutes of play.

Daniel Quinlan’s jumper with 18:15 to play gave the Spartans a five-point lead, 36-31.  After Presbyterian cut the lead to two on a Bryan Bostic three-pointer, Upstate pushed the lead up to seven on a Free jumper with 13:31 to play.

Presbyterian again fought back, cutting the Upstate lead to one, 55-54, with 7:23 to play.  After Quinlan’s two free throws gave the Spartans a four-point lead, Presbyterian used a 5-0 run capped by a Dixon three-pointer to give the Blue Hose a 59-58 lead with 4:48 to play.

Free nailed a three-pointer to swing the momentum back in the favor of the Spartans and Luke Payne hit a jumper to give Upstate a four-point lead, 63-59, with 3:10 remaining.  Dixon nailed another trey for Presbyterian to cut the lead to one with 2:38 to play and Grant Herren converted a pair of free throws with 1:33 to go to give Presbyterian a 64-63 advantage.

Free converted a pair of free throws to take a 65-64 lead with 44 seconds to play.  Jeremy Byrd, who saw his first action after missing the last two games recovering from an illness contracted last Tuesday, came up with the steal on the inbounds play and Free was fouled.  He converted both free throws to give the Spartans a three-point lead and Byrd converted 1-of-2 with 13 seconds to play for the final four-point margin.

Payne added 15 points for Upstate, while Byrd had a solid nine points, five steals, two blocks, and three rebounds.  Preston Eppinger added eight points and four boards.

Bostic finished with a double-double for Presbyterian, tallying 14 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.  The Norcoss, Ga. native was almost perfect from downtown, going 4of-5 from behind the arc.  Herren added 15 points and eight boards for the Blue Hose.

Box Score

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