SC Upstate beats Florida Gulf Coast 63-62 to advance

Mar 5, 2015, 09:29 pm

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Atlantic Sun Player of the Year Ty Greene scored 20 points Thursday and third-seeded USC Upstate rallied to beat second-seeded FGCU 63-62 to advance to Sunday's conference tournament championship game against No. 1 seed North Florida.

ShunQuez Stephens scored a career-high tying 15 for the Spartans (23-10), including a 3-pointer with 3:16 left which put Upstate ahead 59-56.

The Eagles retook the lead 60-59 with 54 seconds left on a layup by Jamail Jones. Greene hit two free throws for a 63-60 Upstate lead, but he fouled Thompson with one second left while contesting Thompson's 3-point try. Thompson had to make all three free throws to win the game, but his third try missed.

Thompson scored 25, including five 3-pointers, for FGCU (22-10) and Brett Comer added 15.

Upstate pulled ahead 13-5 on a 3-pointer by Greene, who scored 11 in the first half, and Josh Cuthbertson's layup at the buzzer put Upstate up 27-25 at halftime.