Box Score FINAL STATS

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – USC Upstate's Torrey Craig sank a runner with 18 seconds to play to cap a furious comeback and handed the Jacksonville State men's basketball team a heartbreaking 50-48 defeat at the Hodge Center.

The Gamecocks (2-6) couldn't hang on against a Spartans (6-2) team that turned its game around in the final 20 minutes to overcome a 15-point second-half deficit and win the first meeting between the two teams since 1992. Craig's game winning bucket gave him a game-high 20 points and capped a double-double night that also saw Upstate's leading scorer and rebounder pull in 13 boards.

The Gamecocks struggled from the floor and from the free throw line but still managed to defend their way to a 36-21 lead with 19 minutes to play in the game. However, the Spartans' shot wok up from that point, from which they turned a 7-for-29 first half from the floor into a 46 percent shooting effort the rest of the way. They also outrebounded the Gamecocks by 10 in the second half to win the overall battle on the glass, 41-23.

JSU mustered just 18 points in the second half after 30 first-half points. Senior Stephen Hall led JSu with nine points and six boards, while junior Tarvin Gaines and sophomore Brian Williams each scored eight points. JSU turned it over 20 times, 13 in the first half, but outscored the Spartans on points off turnovers, thanks to the 19 the Gamecocks forced.

The Gamecocks jumped out to an early lead and held it for the entire first half, stretching it to as many as 14 late in the half. JSU made half of its shots from the floor in the half and held the Spartans to a 24-percent effort from the field to take a 30-17 lead into the locker room at the half.

Gaines played just 12 minutes because of early foul trouble but still managed to lead JSU with eight points in the first 20 minutes. Williams added seven, while Ronnie Boggs pitched in six. The Spartans, who were 0-for-7 from behind the arc, in the opening half, didn't have anyone with more than four points.

After the two teams exchanged four-point runs, the Gamecocks hit a cold spell from the floor that left them without a field goal for 6:52 and allowed the Spartans to pull to within three at 38-35.

The Gamecocks stretched the lead back to six before the Spartans answered again and eventually tied it at 44-44 on a Mario Blessings bucket with just over four minutes to play. Craig converted on a pair of free throw with 3:40 to play to give the Spartans a 46-45 lead, their first of the game.

After Adrian Rodgers made one of his two charity shots, Hall drew contact and went to the line with 2:44 to play and sank them both to pull the Gamecocks even again at 47-47.

Craig made one of two free throws to put Upstate back up by a point, and the Nick Cook drew a foul inside to go the line on the other end for a pair. Cook a 35-percent free throw shooter in his career at JSU, made the first and missed the second, setting up a Craig runner that fell with 18 seconds left and gave the Spartans a 50-48 win.

The Gamecocks got one last possession and Brian Williams' attempt in the lane drew the front of the iron. The players in the post tipped the loose ball around but no one could corral it before time expired.

The Gamecocks will now take eight days off for final exams and will return to the floor for a pair of games at the Tulane Skip Prosser Tournament in New Orleans. JSu will open play on Nov. 10 against Southern at 4:30 p.m. before wrapping up the weekend on Nov. 11 vs. the host Green Wave at 7 p.m.