Shuler, Keeling lead Charleston Southern over SC Upstate

Feb 2, 2019, 11:45 pm

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Dontrell Shuler and Christian Keeling scored 18 points apiece, Ty Jones added 16 and Charleston Southern beat South Carolina Upstate 90-71 on Saturday to win its third straight.

Travis McConico scored 14 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and distributed eight assists. Phlandrous Fleming Jr. added 10 points off the bench for the Buccaneers (10-11, 4-4 Big South Conference), who made 12 of 24 3-pointers and outrebounded the Spartans 38-25.

Brandon Martin's layup capped an 8-2 run and the Spartans closed to 49-44 on Malik Moore's free throw early in the second half. Keeling's layup sparked a 9-0 spurt and the Buccaneers steadily pulled away and led by 23 on Shuler's jumper with 5:07 to play.

Shuler's go-ahead 3 sparked an 11-2 run and Charleston Southern led 44-29 at halftime on Keeling's 3 after holding the Spartans to 30-percent shooting.

Moore scored 27 points with nine rebounds and Martin added 13 points for the Spartans (6-19, 1-9), who shot 43 percent. Everette Hammond added 11 and Deion Holmes 10.