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Strong second half lifts Maryland over USC Upstate

Dec 13, 2014 - 7:57 PM College Park, MD (SportsNetwork.com) - Jake Layman scored 17 points and No. 19 Maryland rallied in the second half for a 67-57 victory over USC Upstate on Saturday.

Melo Trimble had 14 points and 12 rebounds while Evan Smotrycz added 10 points and six boards for the Terrapins (10-1), who have won their past three games.

"That was a really good team we played," said Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon. "Their zone was tough, their offense was really good and they have really good players. They did not have any weak spots."

Fred Miller gave 13 points, five boards and five assists and Ty Greene added 11 for the Spartans (8-3), who had a three-game winning streak broken.

The Terrapins were trailing by four points to start the second half, and were down by seven when Jared Nickens hit a 3-pointer that kicked off a 12-2 run with Layman capping the burst on a layup for a 38-35 lead six minutes in.

Another 11-2 run allowed Maryland to create some distance, as Damonte Dodd's free throws with just over nine minutes to play gave the team a 10-point lead.

The Spartans kept the game from getting out of hand and cut their deficit to just four when Miller made a 3-pointer just inside of two minutes remaining.

Layman, though, countered with a 3-pointer and USC Upstate didn't make a bucket the rest of the way.

"I thought we did a lot of good things, but we had three or four possessions and made mistakes," said USC Upstate head coach Eddie Payne. "You cannot make errors against a team like this, because they make you pay and Maryland did that."

Maryland led for much of the first half, but a jumper from Greene started an 8-0 run by the Spartans that helped the team take a 28-24 lead into the locker room.

Game Notes

Maryland plays at Oklahoma State next Sunday ... This was the first meeting between these two teams ... Maryland shot 40 percent from the floor and outrebounded USC Upstate, 44-31.