SPARTANBURG, S.C.  – Trailing 36-30 at halftime, the visiting Gardner-Webb men's basketball team came roaring out of the locker room in the second half and went on a 17-4 scoring run over the first 8:21 to defeat USC Upstate, 73-65, inside the G.B. Hodge Center Saturday afternoon.

Senior guard DQ Nicholas scored a team-high 17 points, grabbed five rebounds, and dished out three assists to lead three Runnin' Bulldog double-figure scorers.

Senior guard Quest Aldridge, who scored in double-figures for the sixth time in the past seven games, tallied 10 points while dishing out four assists.

Junior guard Julian Soumaoro netted 10 points, pulled down five of his six rebounds and went 2-3 from behind the three-point line, all in the second half for the 'Dawgs, who outscored the Spartans 43-29 over the games final 20 minutes.

The win gives Gardner-Webb, which won the first meeting against the Spartans at home, 75-70, back on Jan. 27^th, a sweep of the season series for the first time since 2019-20. The Runnin' Bulldogs improved to 13-14 overall (8-4 in Big South play).

"It was a great second half for our guys," said Gardner-Webb head coach Tim Craft, whose team outrebounded the Spartans 31-18 in the second half to take control of the game. "To be down six (points at halftime) and then eventually go up 13 (points in second half) was impressive. I thought we really got them on the glass. That was an emphasis for us all game. Ademide Badmus (nine points, eight rebounds) was terrific attacking the glass along with Caleb Robinson (seven points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals) during that stretch. We had some beautiful offensive possessions, and the guys were much better defensively in the second half. We were more aggressive, quicker to the ball and playing without fouling."

Gardner-Webb, which hit 8-of-20 (40%) from deep, outscored Upstate 32-24 in the paint.

The Dawgs had an overall 47-35 advantage on the glass as redshirt junior forward Isiah Richard's had a game and season-high 11 rebounds.

Gardner-Webb shot 45.6% (26-57) for the game and 50% (13-26) from the free-throw line.

USC Upstate, which falls to 9-17 overall (4-9 in Big South), was led by redshirt junior swingman Trae Broadnax, who scored a game-high 18 points.   

Justin Bailey (11 points) and Ahmir Langlais (10 points) also scored in double figures for the Spartans.

UP NEXT:  Gardner Webb will return to action on Thursday evening when the Runnin' Bulldogs return  to Boiling Springs to take on Radford. The game was selected as the ESPNU Big South Thursday Night Wild Card Game of the Week. Tip-off at Paul Porter Arena is slated for 7PM.