Spartanburg, S.C. – Western Carolina men's basketball opened a three-game road swing to close out nonconference play on Saturday afternoon on the wrong end of a 78-67 decision at USC Upstate from G.B. Hodge Center.
Sophomore transfer Justin Johnson led the way with a season-high 13 points, including a perfect 4-of-4 at the free-throw line. Redshirt junior Cord Stansberry added 11 points with seven coming from the charity stripe. At the same time, freshman Samuel Dada, sophomore CJ Hyland, and graduate transfer Julien Soumaoro each finished with 10 points apiece to round out WCU's double-figure scoring.
Dada led the Catamounts on the glass with eight rebounds as Johnson and Stansberry both pulled down six misses.
USC Upstate (6-5) was led by Mason Bendinger and Karmani Gregory, who both finished with a game-high 15 points. Bendinger was 5-of-9 from the floor and Gregory had a pair of threes and was 5-of-5 at the free-throw line with a team-best six assists. Carmelo Adkins poured in 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds off the bench for Upstate. Learic Davis added 11 points and a game-high nine rebounds, and Isaiah Skinner rounded out the double-figure scoring with 10 points.
After a back-and-forth start, the Spartans used a quick six-point burst to jump out to the early 10-4 advantage just five minutes into Saturday's action. Following back-to-back quick spurts on either side, the Spartans put together a 9-3 run to stretch the lead to nine, 23-14 at the midpoint of the opening half.
WCU used the free throw line to help push back to a four-point deficit at 23-19 before a 9-2 run from Upstate saw the lead swell to a half-high 11, 32-21, with six minutes to play before the break. The Catamounts continued to claw their way back, though, using a 14-6 run, including 6-of-7 at the free throw line, to help cut the deficit to three, 38-35, and used a late 3-pointer by Hyland to make it 40-38 for the hosts at intermission.
The Spartans started fast in the second half with a 10-4 start out of the halftime locker room to take an eight-point lead, 50-42. WCU put together its best outburst of the afternoon with 10 unanswered points from Dada, Johnson, and graduate transfer Tidjiane Dioumassi to take its first lead at 52-50 with 11:33 to play.
USC Upstate responded with a 13-4 run over the next five minutes to regain a lead they would never relinquish as they pushed the advantage to seven, 63-56, with six minutes to play. After a parade of free throws over the next two plus minutes saw the margin cut to five, 65-60, the hosts used an 11-2 run down the stretch to extend the lead to 14 before claiming the 78-67 victory.
Western Carolina shot 34.5 (20-of-58) percent from the floor as the Spartans held the Catamounts to under 38 percent in both halves. WCU buried four threes at a 23.5% rate as the guests matched a season-high, going 23-of-28 (82.1%) at the free throw line. USC Upstate posted a 45.1 (23-of-51) percent shooting performance, connecting on 12-of-22 (54.5%) shots in the opening half. The Spartans buried eight threes at a 30.8% clip, while making 24-of-30 (80%) at the charity stripe.
For just the third time in nine games, the Catamounts lost the rebounding battle by six, 40-34, as the Spartans had a 33-25 advantage on the defensive glass to help gain the overall edge.
Western Carolina (4-5) continues its three-game road swing with a trip to Blacksburg, Va., on Thursday, Dec. 11, with a battle against ACC foe Virginia Tech. The meeting with the Hokies is slated for a 7 p.m. tip-off and will be shown on ACC Network Extra (paid subscription required), with live audio from the Catamount Sports Network, and live stats available online at CatamountSports.com.
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