SPARTANBURG, S.C. — USC Upstate honored seven seniors — Nick Alves, Miguel Ayesa, Trae Broadnax, Dave Dickerson III, Ahmir Langlais, Floyd Rideau, Jr., and Thomas Shieda — during pregame festivities prior to Wednesday’s matchup against in-state and conference foe Presbyterian.
Fittingly, one of them provided the heroics.
With less than 10 seconds to play, Broadnax surveyed the floor, drove across the lane, and hit an off-balance runner with 1.5 seconds left, lifting the Spartans to an exhilarating 74-72 victory over the Blue Hose. The result also marks the third season in which Upstate has closed out the regular season at home and emerged victorious.
“I had the ball and there were eight seconds left,” Broadnax recalled. “Coach was saying, ‘Go!’ and I knew that we had a timeout. I heard them say load up to the ball, but no one was loaded up to the ball. I was pretty confident (in the shot). I knew where I had put it and how it was coming off, that it was going to hit the front of the rim and have a chance. I knew that Ahmir was down there, too.”
“It was very appropriate,” Upstate head coach Dave Dickerson added. “He has made that play for us a lot. He made it against Longwood (on January 17) where he got to the rim and missed the shot, but Ahmir was right there. With his size and strength, you want to get him downhill. He struggled tonight from the field (4-for-11), but he came through when we needed him. That’s the mark of a really good senior.”
Prior to that shot, it had been quite the back-and-forth battle in the second half between the two sides. Presbyterian picked up a 6-0 burst, featuring a Trevon Reddish-Rhone basket and Kory Mincy triple, which tied the game at 61 with 8:12 to play.
“I thought we got off to a slow start in the first half,” Presbyterian head coach Quinton Ferrell stated. “We came out, played better in the second half, and gave ourselves a chance. Kory Mincy was phenomenal and made big shots from the end of the first half and throughout the second half. There’s a lot to learn from this game in terms of mistakes and improvements. We can’t dwell on this too much because there’s going to be a lot on the line Saturday.”
A few moments later, an Alves basket reclaimed a three-point Upstate lead, but a Kobe Stewart three-point play created a 64-all deadlock. A Jalen Breazeale layup helped push the Spartans ahead by five, but a Samage Teel bucket trimmed the deficit down to three, 69-66, at the 3:35 mark.
Upstate saw its lead sliced down to one, 70-69, following a Mincy free throw and Stewart basket, but Alves answered with a layup of his own to extend the Spartan advantage back to three with 2:03 left.
“We’ve been through trials and tribulations this year,” Dickerson remarked. “We’ve tried to find our identity and hopefully, we can get some good film from this game to show our guys. The ball was moving well, and guys made some big time individual plays. The guys that scored the ball tonight are the guys that need to score the ball for us. Our seniors gave us a great first half and did the things we needed to do to get that mojo we needed.”
Following a missed shot from long distance by Upstate, the Blue Hose gained possession and called a timeout with 18 seconds left and a chance to tie. Mincy curled around a Reddish-Rhone screen on the right wing and drained a game-tying triple with 10 seconds to play.
As the calendar prepares to flip to the third month of the year, it’s not lost as to what can happen during conference tournament time.
“Hopefully, we can build a lot of momentum off of this win,” Broadnax exclaimed. “And then, it’s March. Anything can happen in March.”
Alves finished with a team-high of 13 points for Upstate, leading five players in double figures. Breazeale had 12 points and seven assists, followed by Bailey with 11 points. Broadnax tallied 10 points and seven boards, while Patrick Iriel (10 points, nine rebounds) just missed a double-double.
The Spartans outscored Presbyterian, 46-32, in the paint, 12-7 in second-chance points, 37-27 in bench scoring, and 38-36 in rebounds (10-9 on the offensive glass). As a team, Upstate was 30-for-61 from the floor. Also, 10 of the 11 Spartans who played scored at least two points or more.
Mincy posted a game-high 17 points for Presbyterian, leading four players who tallied double-digit totals. Teel scored 14 points, while Marquis Barnett added 11 points. Reddish-Rhone notched a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards. The Blue Hose and Spartans scored 13 points apiece off turnovers. For the game, Presbyterian was 26-for-57 from the deck and hit 15 of 21 free throw attempts.
USC Upstate (10-19, 5-11) has a bye this weekend and will wait to see when it will begin play in the Big South Conference tournament, which starts on March 6. Presbyterian (13-17, 5-10) will finish the regular season on Saturday with a 2 p.m. home game against Charleston Southern.
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