SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- On Senior Day at the Hodge Center, it was sophomore guard Jeremy Byrd who took top billing, finishing with nine points, seven assists, and eight steals to lead USC Upstate to a 77-63 victory over Augusta State Saturday afternoon in Peach Belt Conference men’s basketball action.

USC Upstate improves to 17-9 overall and 12-8 in the conference, clinching the No. 5 seed in the upcoming Peach Belt Tournament in Greenwood, SC, next week. Augusta State falls to 15-12 overall and 11-9 in the league and will be the No. 6 seed in the PBC Tournament.

USC Upstate and Augusta State battled back and forth in the first half before the Spartans used a 7-1 run over the final 3:06 of the half to take a 38-32 lead at the intermission. That spurt helped USC Upstate gain momentum and the Spartans opened a 50-40 lead with 15:22 to play in the game.

Augusta State cut the lead to seven on three free throws by Matt Scott, but USC Upstate used an 8-0 run to catapult to a 15-point lead, 58-43, with 11:23 to play and the advantage never dipped below 11 points the rest of the game as the Spartans pulled away for the 14-point win.

The difference in the game was points off turnovers. USC Upstate forced Augusta State into 17 turnovers for the game, while the Spartans committed just 10 turnovers. USC Upstate scored 25 points off Augusta State miscues, while the Jaguars netted 12.

Spartan Jay Free led all scorers with 19 points, while Daniel Quinlan had a strong outing off the bench with 17 points, two assists, and two steals. Luke Payne added 12 points. Ivica Grgurovic, playing in his final home game of his career, finished with a solid eight points, eight boards, and three assists. Fellow senior Trevor Berryhill saw a little over a minute of action in his final home game.

Tyrekus Bowman led Augusta State with 14 points and four rebounds, while Garrett Siler added 10 points and five boards. Dean Brebner finished with nine points for the Jaguars.

Official Basketball Box Score
Augusta State vs USC Upstate
02-25-06 4:00 p.m. at Spartanburg, SC
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VISITORS: Augusta State 15-12, 11-9
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
05 Brebner, Dean....... f  4-5    1-1    0-0    1  1  2   2   9  1  1  0  0  23
23 Bowman, Tyrekus..... f  4-11   0-0    6-7    2  2  4   3  14  2  3  1  2  32
44 Siler, Garret....... c  5-8    0-0    0-0    2  3  5   2  10  0  1  2  0  16
03 Howard, Demetrius... g  1-3    1-3    0-0    1  3  4   0   3  2  2  0  0  22
12 Telfer, Karim....... g  1-6    0-1    0-0    2  2  4   0   2  6  6  0  1  31
02 Scott, Matt.........    1-4    1-4    5-6    0  0  0   1   8  1  0  1  0  23
04 Quarles, Jamie......    1-1    0-0    2-2    0  1  1   0   4  0  2  0  1   7
21 Mills, Jason........    2-5    1-1    0-0    0  2  2   3   5  1  0  0  0  15
22 Diamond, Larry......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   2   0  2  1  0  0  13
24 Dobbins, Terrell....    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  0  0  0   4
33 Tambon, Luke........    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   1   0  0  0  0  0   7
34 Thomas, Arthur......    2-3    1-2    3-4    1  1  2   0   8  0  1  0  1   7
   TEAM................                         2  2  4
   Totals..............   21-47   5-12  16-19  11 20 31  14  63 15 17  4  5 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-25 44.0%   2nd Half: 10-22 45.5%   Game: 44.7%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  4-8  50.0%   2nd Half:  1-4  25.0%   Game: 41.7%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  6-8  75.0%   2nd Half: 10-11 90.9%   Game: 84.2%   0,1

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HOME TEAM: USC Upstate 17-9, 12-8
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
24 Pikunic, Ante....... f  4-7    0-0    1-2    2  2  4   4   9  0  0  0  0  20
40 Grgurovic, Ivica.... f  3-12   0-4    2-2    2  6  8   3   8  3  1  0  0  32
10 Payne, Luke......... g  4-12   2-7    2-2    1  1  2   2  12  2  0  0  1  31
20 Byrd, Jeremy........ g  4-8    1-2    0-0    0  3  3   2   9  7  3  0  8  34
23 Free, Jay........... g  7-11   4-8    1-1    1  4  5   2  19  1  1  0  0  28
04 Rich, Zac...........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  1  0  0   2
32 Quinlan, Daniel.....    6-10   2-4    3-3    2  0  2   3  17  2  3  0  2  24
33 Berryhill, Trevor...    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  1  0  0   1
42 Eppinger, Preston...    1-1    0-0    1-2    1  2  3   2   3  0  0  0  0  26
45 Wartenberger, Marc..    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
   TEAM................                         3     3
   Totals..............   29-61   9-25  10-12  12 18 30  19  77 15 10  0 11 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-36 44.4%   2nd Half: 13-25 52.0%   Game: 47.5%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  4-14 28.6%   2nd Half:  5-11 45.5%   Game: 36.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  2-2  100 %   2nd Half:  8-10 80.0%   Game: 83.3%    1

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Officials: Steve Deibel, Jerald Drumming, Charles Cummings
Technical fouls: Augusta State-TEAM. USC Upstate-None.
Attendance: 624
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Augusta State.................   32   31  -   63
USC Upstate...................   38   39  -   77

Points in the paint-ASU 30,UPSTATE 32. Points off turnovers-ASU 12,UPSTATE 25.
2nd chance points-ASU 15,UPSTATE 11. Fast break points-ASU 0,UPSTATE 11.
Bench points-ASU 25,UPSTATE 20. Score tied-8 times. Lead changed-8 times.
Last FG-ASU 2nd-01:46, UPSTATE 2nd-02:58.