Mercer defeats South Carolina-Upstate 70-59
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Brian Mills scored a career-high 30 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to lead Mercer to a 70-59 win over South Carolina-Upstate Wednesday night, earning its first Atlantic-Sun conference victory of the season.
The Bears (4-11, 1-3) led 30-23 at halftime after going 14 of 27 from the floor (51.9 percent) in the opening half. Mercer stretched its lead to as many as 25 with 5:23 left to play.
Jeff Smith scored 14 points and Brandon Moore added 12 for the Bears, who snapped a four-game losing streak.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Babatund Olumuyiwa led USC-Upstate (2-12, 1-3) with 13 points. Torrey Craig and Josh Chavis scored 12 each and Ricardo Glenn 10.
The Spartans, losers of six in a row, shot 39.7 percent from the field (23 of 58) — more than three points higher than their season average (36.6 percent), which ranks 340th in the country.