Uzochukwu’s 13 points, Schneiders’ 5 blocks help South Carolina-Upstate defeat Lipscomb 81-74

South Carolina-Upstate defeats Lipscomb 81-74

SPARTANBURGK, S.C. — Mezie Uzochukwu scored 13 points and South Carolina-Upstate defeated Lipscomb 81-74 on Thursday night.

The Spartans (5-19, 5-10 Atlantic Sun Conference) turned the ball over seven times, while dishing out 16 assists.

Lipscomb, which was tied for first in the A-Sun with Belmont heading in, led 40-31 at halftime, but had 7 of its 12 turnovers and was outscored 26-7 off the bench in the second half.

The Spartans outscored the Bison 22-11 to open the second half, and took a 53-51 lead on Cedric Koffi’s 3 with 12:06 left.

Adnan Hodzic’s layup tied it at 53-53, but Josh Chavis responded for the Spartans on a 3 with 11:26 remaining, and South Carolina-Upstate wouldn’t trail the rest of the way.

Koffi finished with 11 points and Nick Schneiders added five blocks for the Spartans.

Hodzic finished with 22 points and Jordan Burgason added 18 for Lipscomb (13-12, 10-6).