USC Upstate pulls away from North Greenville 70-58

Dec 11, 2015, 09:29 pm

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Mike Cunningham scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half to help USC Upstate pull away from North Greenville 70-58 on Friday night.

Cunningham finished 4 of 7 from 3-point range and the rest of the Spartans (2-9) were 1 of 15. He gave the Spartans their largest lead at 60-47 on a 3-pointer with 6:59 left.

Marvin Smith added 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting for Upstate, which led 26-25 at halftime and used a 14-4 run to build a 45-35 lead on one of Cunningham's free throws with 11:58 left.

Korval McElroy and Miguel Cartagena had 14 points each to lead North Greenville. Cartagena's 3 with 11:08 cut the deficit to 45-40, but the Crusaders gave up a 7-0 run and got no closer than within eight from there.

North Greenville led 25-24 late in the first half and tied it at 31 early in the second.