Upstate wins emotional quarterfinal contest, advances to Big South semifinals

CHARLOTTE – It’s a cliché as old as time: Basketball is a metaphor for life.

Friday’s second Big South quarterfinal game featured two perfect examples. Charleston Southern, amid an atypical year during Barclay Radebaugh’s tenure, has found a way to teach life lessons and see the positives in a year where they weren’t always easy to find.

Then there’s USC Upstate, playing with heavy hearts after the passing of coach Dave Dickerson’s wife, Laurette, earlier in the week. That heartbreak came on the heels of securing a first-round bye with Saturday’s 72-70 victory over Gardner-Webb, producing the best regular season the Spartans have enjoyed in the Big South.

Upstate (14-15) started and finished strong, using a 46 percent shooting effort to turn away 12th-seeded Charleston Southern, 72-62. The Spartans will face top-seeded Longwood in Saturday’s first semifinal in Charlotte at noon.

The bigger story, though, had nothing to do with made baskets – or, really, anything to do with dribbling a ball.

“Great win today for our program and our team,” Upstate associate head coach Stacey Palmore said after the game. “It’s been a tough week, but these guys and their teammates pulled through and are kind of on a mission a little bit. Everybody banded together and pulled out a win.”

Dickerson coached the team to the victory. The fact that he did so did not go unnoticed by Radebaugh.

“My heart is broken for the Dickerson family,” Radebaugh said. “I texted Dave two days ago that Hope and I had already prayed for him and that we love him and will be there to support him all the way through this. We’re not just gonna say it. Hope and I are gonna be there.

“I have so much respect that he coached this game. If anybody criticizes that, that is beyond me. The courage that man had to coach this game … I know his wife would have wanted him to coach this game. I have so much respect for that. That’s incredible.”

Charleston Southern, who finished the season 6-25, fell behind 17-6 just over four minutes into the game and never again pulled the margin closer than nine. That’s one part of the story. The much bigger story came in the way the Buccaneers grew as people as much as they grew as players.

“I just told our team how proud I am of them – not for the numbers that show in the wins and losses,” Radebaugh said. “That’s not typical of Charleston Southern. That’s not typically what we’ve been about. That team, through very, very difficult circumstances, did not splinter one time. They didn’t break from each other, they didn’t accuse each other, they didn’t accuse coaches, they didn’t splinter, they didn’t do things crazy. They kept hanging in there. We just simply did not have the ability to make enough shots. I have a lot of respect for them as people – as men.”

Co-Freshman of the Year Jordan Gainey poured in 20 points, knocking down seven of his ten tries from the field. Josh Aldrich hit 4-of-6 from both the field and the charity stripe, tallying 13. Bryson Mozone added 12.

Claudell Harris, who also made the All-Freshman team, paced the Bucs with 15. Deontaye Buskey finished one rebound shy of a double-double, scoring 14. Cheikh Faye added 11, with Tahlik Chavez booking 10.

As the sun set on Charleston Southern’s tournament stay, Radebaugh and Dickerson shared an embrace at center court. The message Radebaugh shared was not revealed, but he did offer one final piece of wisdom to apply to the lives of his players – as well as anyone else who may have heard it.

“I’m praying very hard that God will use this in their lives to help them to know that you just don’t quit in life. God never quits on us. They just didn’t quit,” Radebaugh said. “That’s the first of the difficult situations that they’re gonna have in their lives. They’re gonna have many more.

"I think everybody sitting in this room can attest that if you’re not in a difficult situation, one is coming. It’s down the road. The way our men handled a difficult situation honored our university, honored the name on the back of their jersey and the name on the front of their jersey, and honored God as best we can through a difficult season.”