SPARTANBURG, S.C. – USC Upstate built a 19-point lead in the first half, then held off a furious Campbell rally in the second to claim a 73-65 Atlantic Sun Conference men's basketball victory Saturday at the Hodge Center.

Josh Chavis scored 17 points, hitting 3-of-6 threes and 6-of-6 from the line to lead Upstate (4-14, 3-6), which won consecutive games for the first time this season. De'Marion Gordon added 13 points off the bench – 9-of-10 from the stripe – Bobby Davis had 12 and Nick Schneiders 10, plus 11 rebounds for the Spartans.

Jonathan Rodriguez led Campbell (7-12, 4-6) with 19 points (15 in the second half) and 11 rebounds. Lorne Merthie chipped in 17, 15 in the final stanza, and Matt Gwynne had nine for the Camels, who lost their second-straight game. Merthie hit 5-of-7 shots, including 3-of-5 threes, and 4-of-5 from the stripe.

Junior guard Junard Hartley added 7 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists (and just one turnover) in 35 minutes.

A junior from Bayamon, Puerto Rico, Rodriguez moved into fourth place on the school's career Division I era (since 1977-78) rebounding list. He now has 726 boards in 80 games (9.1 per outing), two more than Henry Wilson grabbed for the Camels from 1985-89.

Merthie sparked a 21-9 Campbell run to open the second half, scoring 13 points, including 3-of-3 threes in the span. The freshman guard's trey from the right wing cut the gap to 53-48 with 13:11 remaining, but the Camels could get no closer.

Rodriguez' 3 from the top of the key brought the Camels within 61-55 with 9:06 to go. CU went 5:01 without points, but Upstate scored only two in the same span and Rodriguez' low post bucket trimmed the gap to 63-57 with 4:05 left, but Carter Cook hit a triple from the right side on the next possession to push the margin back to nine (66-57).

Upstate, which entered the game shooting just 65 percent from the free throw line – 10th in the 11-team A-Sun, made 22-of-24 for the game, 7-of-8 in the last 2:49.

Campbell held the Spartans to just 35 percent shooting from the field in the second half, 45 percent for the game. Campbell, however, made just 34 percent of its shots, while hitting 7-of-16 from 3-point range (5-of-10 in the second half) and 20-of-25 from the line.

Upstate finished with a 36-32 edge on the glass.

The Spartans made 8 of their first 10 shots, including 3-of-5 threes, and jumped to a 21-7 lead in the first 7:14 of play. The Spartans shot 54 percent (14-26) from the field in the opening period and made 12-of-13 (.923) from the line to take a 44-27 advantage at the break.

Davis (4-4 from the field) and Chavis (2-3 threes) led Upstate with 10 first-half points apiece. Gwynne scored 7 of Campbell's first 12 points, but sat out the final 7:23 of the period after picking up his second foul.

Campbell shot just 32 percent (9-28) from the floor in the first period.

The Camels return home to Gore Arena to host Florida Gulf Coast Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.