COLUMBIA, S.C. (WLTX) -- Malik Cooke scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as South Carolina rallied past South Carolina Upstate 72-66 on Saturday. It was the Gamecocks' third consecutive win and fifth in the past six games.
South Carolina (7-6) moved above .500 for the first time since starting the season with a 75-50 win over Western Carolina. Not that this victory came easy.
The Gamecocks lost a 12-point lead and trailed SC Upstate (8-6) 47-46 on Ricardo Glenn's layup with 13:02 to go. But Cooke answered with two foul shots and South Carolina did not trail again.
SC Upstate got within 68-66 in the final minute but could get no closer. Torrey Craig led the Spartans with 20 points.
Brenton Williams had 11 points and RJ Slawson 10 for South Carolina.