Upstate wins its opener 78-65 over Florida A&M

Nov 15, 2015, 10:34 pm

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Ty Greene scored 16 points with three 3-pointers, and South Carolina-Upstate opened its season with a 78-65 win over Florida A&M on Saturday night.

Michael Buchanan added 14 points and Fred Miller 13 for Upstate which scored 21 straight in the second half to lead 71-46 on Mario Blessing's layup with 6:42 left.

Jermaine Ruttley led the Rattlers (0-2) with 20 points on 9-of-20 shooting. He scored the Rattlers first seven second-half points, keeping them close before the Spartans pulled away.

Buchanan's tip-in with 40 seconds left in the first half gave Upstate the lead for good and Damian Goodwin's free throw put the Spartans up 38-36 at the break.

After Upstate opened the game on a 15-4 run, the Rattlers answered with a 17-2 run and led the rest of the first half until Greene's 3-pointer tied it at 34-all with 1:57 left.