#1 Longwood Edges #4 USC Upstate, Advances to Title Game
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Top-seeded Longwood recovered from an early 16-point deficit to defeat USC Upstate 79-70 Saturday in the semifinal round of the Hercules Tires Big South Championship at Bojangles’ Coliseum.
The Lancers (25-6) extended their win streak to seven games and advance to Sunday’s 12:00 p.m. final on ESPN2 against either second-seeded Winthrop or third seed Gardner-Webb.
DeShaun Wade and Justin Hill scored 18 points each for the Lancers, who wrapped a 21-5 run around halftime to secure their 18th win in the last 19 games. Isaiah Wilkins added 13 points and Zac Watson 10 for Longwood, which made 6-of-9 threes in the second period – 10-of-20 on the day – and out-rebounded the Spartans 43-24.
Bryson Mozone led fourth-seeded Upstate (14-16) with 24 points, including 6-of-11 triples, while Mysta Goodloe chipped in 15. Big South co-freshman of the year Jordan Gainey added 13 points, but hit only 3-of-16 shots from the floor.
After a cold start, Longwood – which won a Big South semifinal game for the first time since joining the league in 2012-13 – made 54 percent of its shots (14-26) in the second half.
The lead changed 11 times in the second period before Gainey tied the score at 63 when he made both ends of a 1-and-1 with 3:34 to play. However, the Spartans missed six-straight shots down the stretch.
Wade’s catch and shoot three at the end of the shot clock put Longwood up for good (66-63). The Lancers then made 9-of-10 from the line in the final 56 seconds to seal the win.
Upstate hit 6 of its first 8 shots and jumped to a 16-3 lead after White hit a jumper just 3:45 into the contest. The Lancers, however, closed the half on a 17-5 surge, including 10 unanswered points, to pull within 36-33 at the break.
Making their first Big South semifinal appearance since joining the league in 2018-19, the Spartans hit 12 of their first 18 shots. However, Upstate closed the half just 2 of its next 10 to shoot 50 percent (14-28) from the field before the break. The Spartans made 4 of their first 6 threes, but just 1 of the next eight. Longwood shot 37 percent (10-27) in the first half, made 4-of-11 threes, and 9-of-12 from the line.