GREENWOOD – USC Upstate pulled within a game of first-place Lander in the Peach Belt Conference's North Division, holding off the Bearcats 65-59 Wednesday night at Horne Arena.
The Spartans improved to 14-8 overall and 6-5 in the conference. Lander, which never led after the first minute of the game, fell to 13-9 and 7-4. The teams will have an important rematch in Spartanburg Feb. 21.
USC Upstate hit 11 of 16 shots from 3-point range (69 percent) while holding Lander to only 5 of 20 from behind the arc (25 percent).
Jeremy Byrd and Ante Pikunic led Upstate with 16 points apiece, each hitting 6 of 10 shots from the floor. Pikunic made four of five shots from behind the arc. Daniel Quinlan added 11 points and Jabreel Moton scored eight of his 10 points down the stretch.
Jarred Jackson led the Bearcats with 13 points while Emanuel Hodrea had a game-high seven rebounds. Curtis Milner had three blocked shots for Lander.
Upstate extended a 30-23 halftime lead to as many as 14 points, 49-35, on Pikunic's lay-up with 8:10 left. Lander scored five unanswered points from the free-throw line to start a 7-0 run, with Milner making three and Jackson two. Jackson drove inside for a lay-up, cutting the Bearcats deficit to 49-42 with 6:33 left in the game.
Moton made two free throws and a basket to extend Upstate's lead to 53-42 with 5:30 to go. Lander closed the gap to 53-47 on a 3-pointer by Zach Evans and two free throws by Dane Sparrow with 2:32 showing on the clock. Pikunic's 3-pointer pushed the Spartan lead back to nine, 56-47, at the 2:10 mark.
Moton added two free throws and a jumper to extend Upstate's lead to 61-49 with just under a minute to go. But Jason Davis drove inside for a lay-up, was fouled, and completed a three-point play. Then Davis got a quick steal and passed to Evans for a 3-pointer that pulled Lander within 61-55 with 34 seconds left.
After Upstate's Byrd made one free throw, the Bearcats cut it to 62-57 on Sparrow's put-back with 14 seconds to go. Once again, Byrd made one free throw and Lander came back with a basket on Griffin's lay-up, making it 63-59 with seven seconds left. Quinlan hit two free throws for the game's final points.
Pikunic, Byrd and Luke Payne hit 3-pointers to stake the Spartans to an early 11-3 lead. Trailing 16-9, Lander put together an 11-4 run to tie. Darius Johnson's inside bucket made it 20-all at the 6:10 mark. Upstate outscored the Bearcats 10-3 the remainder of the half behind a pair of Pikunic 3-pointers to lead 30-23 at the break. Pikunic led all scorers in the first half with 11 points.
For the game, Lander made 19 of 53 shots from the floor (36 percent) and 16 of 22 free throws (73 percent). The Spartans hit 22 of 43 from the field (51 percent) and 10 of 19 free throws (53 percent). The Bearcats out-rebounded Upstate 32-29.
