Wednesday, January 17, 2007

SAINTS FALL ON THE ROAD AGAINST USC UPSTATE
Jay Anderson scores game-high 26 points in loss

Spartanburg, SC - North Georgia College & State University finished off their fourth game in a week, only to fall short to USC Upstate 74-56 in Peach Belt Conference action Wednesday night.

Trailing by as many as 18 points in the first half, the Saints made run-after-run to close the gap to as close as seven points in the second half.

USC Upstate took a 46-33 lead with 14:46 remaining in the contest before North Georgia went on an 8-2 run to close the gap to seven. Junior center Robert Shoupes hit on of his two lay-ups with 13:44 remaining to close the gao 46-35. Junior forward Xavier Trice connected on a fastbreak lay-up to trim the lead to 46-37 with 13:25 remaining in the contest. Following a Luke Payne lay-up that extended the lead back to 11, senior Ryan Franklin connected on a six-footer to trim the lead back to nine at 48-39 with 12:07 remaining. He would strike again, this time connecting on two free throws with 10:56 to go to trim the lead to 48-41.

The Saints not only made a run in the second half, they pushed the Spartans near the end of the first half.

North Georgia went on a 7-0 run to trim an 18-point lead down to 11 in the waning seconds of the first half. Shoupes started the run with a free throw with just 1:04 left in the first half. Jay Anderson immediately stole the ball and broke away for a lay-up, trimming the lead to 37-23 with 53 seconds remaining. Freshman Colby Newton finished off the run with a three-pointer, made possible by an offensive rebound by Trice and an assist from Jakirra Millsap.

North Georgia shot 41.3 (19-for-46) percent from the floor, and 26.3 (5-for-19) percent from behind the arc. They also shot 68.4 (13-for-19) percent from the free throw line.

Meanwhile USC Upstate shot 45.5 (25-for-55) percent from the floor, and 42.9 (9-for-21) percent from behind the arc. They also shot 62.5 (15-for-24) percent from the free throw line.

Daniel Quinlan led USC Upstate with 19 points, while Payne added 14 points and seven assists. Ante Pikunic added 10 points for the Spartans.

Anderson was the lone Saint in double figures, posting a season-high 26 points on 10-for-15 shooting from the floor and 4-for-6 shooting from behind the arc. Franklin and Shoupes added seven points each, while Trice grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.

North Georgia (4-13, 0-6 PBC) returns to action Saturday afternoon at 4 pm against Augusta State. The game is the second in a doubleheader celebrating homecoming in Dahlonega.

-NGCSU-

Box Score

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