Feb. 21, 2008

Box Score

Buies Creek, N.C. - USC Upstate grabbed hold of a nine-point lead at halftime and ran away with the game in the second half, claiming a 79-58 victory over Campbell Thursday night in Atlantic Sun Conference men's basketball action. The victory was Upstate head coach Eddie Payne's 100th at the helm of the Spartans program.

Upstate improved to 7-21 on the year overall and 5-9 in the A-Sun. Campbell fell to 10-16 overall and 5-8 in the league.

Payne is in his sixth season at Upstate and his 23rd overall and has tallied a 100-75 record. He has led Upstate to two Peach Belt Conference championships and two appearances in the NCAA Division II Tournament prior to the University's move to NCAA Division I and the Atlantic Sun Conference this season.

"I thought the ball movement was better tonight," said Payne. "We found the open man and made shots. That was a big thing."

Luke Payne was nearly unstoppable in the first half and he got a lot of help from Mezie Uzochukwu. Payne was 5-of-7 from the field, including 2-of-4 from three-point land, to finish with 13 points in the opening 20 minutes. Uzochukwu added 10 points as the Spartans pushed their way to a 38-29 lead at the intermission.

Upstate opened the game on fire, taking a 13-4 lead just 3:30 into the game. Nearly three minutes passed without either team scoring before Campbell cut the lead to five. However, Gabor Boros answered with a three-pointer to push the lead to eight with 12:49 to play.

Campbell again cut the lead to five, but Upstate answered with a 5-0 run to increase the lead to 10, 22-12, with 9:21 to play before the half. Campbell countered with seven unanswered points to cut the lead to three, but Payne nailed a jumper to give the Spartans a five point cushion.

Campbell again cut the Upstate lead to three late in the half, but Upstate outscored the Fighting Camels 7-1 the rest of the half to open a nine point lead at the break. Uzochukwu had the final five points of the half for the Spartans.

After Kyle Vejraska began the second half with a bucket to cut the Upstate lead to seven, the Spartans used an 8-0 run to open a 15 point lead, 46-31, with 16:22 to play in the game.

Vejraska's jumper with 13:33 to play cut the Upstate lead to 13 points, but that would be as close as Campbell would get the rest of the game. Upstate thoroughly dominated in the second half. The Spartans pushed the lead to 21 points with 7:36 to play and held as big of a lead as 23 points before settling for the 21 point victory.

Upstate shot 54.2 percent from the floor in the second half and finished the game shooting 46.4 percent. The Spartans were also strong from the three-point arc, hitting 11-of-28 from long range. Upstate made 16-of-23 from the free throw line.

Upstate managed to keep Jonathan Rodriguez in check for most of the game. The A-Sun's leading scorer entering the game, he did not reach double figures until late in the contest. He managed to finish with 17 points and 14 rebounds, but most of his points came when the game was already decided.

"I think what Mezie really did is he guarded (A-Sun leading scorer Jonathon) Rodriguez well," said Eddie Payne. "That was the most important thing. He did an excellent job. I think Mezie made Rodriguez work for everything he got and consequently, he got 17 points, but he didn't get them easy."

Rodriguez's frustration mirrored that of the Fighting Camels. Campbell finished the game shooting 36.5 percent from the floor and made just 3-of-16 from behind the three-point arc.

Upstate finished the game by tying a season low in turnovers, finishing with just eight miscues on the night. Campbell was forced into 12 turnovers in the game.

Payne led the Upstate cause with 22 points and three assists. Uzochukwu finished with his second double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Rashawn Brailsford added 13 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals.

Vejraska finished with 10 points to help Rodriguez and the Fighting Camels. Jake Wohlfeil added 10 points for Campbell.