USC Upstate was unable finish off a rally against the Ospreys on a day dedicated to longtime coach Eddie Payne.
For an extended stretch during the second half, USC Upstate couldn’t miss.
The Spartans made seven straight shots, scored on 11 of 12 possessions for 22 points and yet still couldn’t make up any ground.
North Florida, up by 19 points when USC Upstate heated up, was up by 18 when the Spartans cooled down, and cruised to a 100-80 victory Saturday afternoon at the G.B. Hodge Center.
During a special ceremony at halftime to honor recently retired former head coach Eddie Payne, the gymnasium’s official name was changed to Eddie and Ann Payne Arena.
“I definitely wanted a better performance for Eddie,” said USC Upstate head coach Kyle Perry, a longtime top assistant who was given the job when Payne stepped down in October. “But I’m happy for Eddie and what they did for him today.”
USC Upstate (6-16, 1-4) was coming off its first Atlantic Sun Conference win, 91-85 at home against Jacksonville. But the Spartans couldn’t keep that positive vibe and North Florida (9-13, 3-2) moved into the top of half of the league standings.
“I thought we had a good game plan coming in,” Perry said. “That’s the way it goes sometimes. Just hang in there with these kids and keep plugging along. We made some strides Thursday night and kind of stepped back today. We’ll see what happens.”
The Spartans tried to prevent a blowout. In the stretch of 7-for-7 shooting midway through the second half, Mike Cunningham hit a 3-pointer, Malik Moore scored the next four points, Ramel Thompkins had a three-point play, Carson Smith scored and Deion Holmes (Chesnee High) had a couple of driving layups.
A 3-pointer at the other end, however, made North Florida 7-for-9 from long distance in the second half and pushed the lead back out to 82-64.
“We started making some shots, but we couldn’t stop them,” Perry said. “We have to get better in transition. We have to really guard people and get back and defend the ball, just do a better job of guarding overall. We have some deficiencies, but we’ll keep working.”
Moore recorded a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds as well as matching a career high of six assists with just one turnover. Holmes, coming off a career-best 28 points, started 2-for-10 from the floor but then went 5-for-9 and finished with a team-high 16 points. Cunningham, a junior who reached 1,000 career points on Thursday, had 15. Smith was 6-for-6 shooting for a dozen points and Thompkins added 10.
Freshman forward Isaiah Anderson, who had played a total of just one minute in the previous six games, had seven points and seven rebounds with two assists and two blocks in 15 minutes.
“I felt like felt like with the zone they were playing,” Perry said, “he was a better passer, so maybe we could get him in there and get it moving. He did that.”