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8/26/2009 - MEN'S BASKETBALL
Payne Earns MVP, Lightning Win SBL
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Spartanburg, S.C. - Former USC Upstate and Spartanburg High School standout basketball player Luke Payne scored a game-high 29 points to earn Most Valuable Player honors and led the Lakeside Lightning to an 85-77 victory over Perry Lakes Saturday night in the Grand Final of the State Basketball League.
Payne was virtually unstoppable in the game and his quick start enabled Lakeside to open what seemed to be an insurmountable 28-point lead in the second quarter. However, Perry Lakes was able cut the deficit to 18 points at halftime as Lakeside went into the intermission with a 60-42 lead.
Perry Lakes concentrated on shutting down Payne, the 6-2 shooting guard, in the third quarter and the strategy paid off. The Hawks were able to cut the deficit to three points with three minutes to play in the game. That was when Lakeside and head coach Andy Stewart turned to Payne as they had all season.
Payne made a couple of key baskets and free throws down the stretch to turn a three-point lead into a eight-point victory as Lakeside won its third State Basketball League Championship in five years. Prior to this season, the Lightning won SBL titles in 2005 and 2006 and advanced to the semifinals in 2007 with former Upstate standout forward Charleston Long leading the way. The fact that Payne would be the go-to guy on the court should be no surprise to Upstate fans who watched him for four years. As a senior, he was the go-to guy on nearly every possession as the Spartans played their first season on the Division I level.
"Luke's been unstoppable all season," Lakeside captain Jarrad Prue told The West Australian following the game. "Once again when we needed a couple of key buckets he really iced the game for us."
In addition to his game-high 29 points, Payne finished with five rebounds, three assists and two steals to lead the way for Lakeside. Ryan Sofoulis added 15 points and five rebounds, while Prue was strong with 14 points and 12 boards.
Payne led Lakeside to a 22-4 regular season record and the regular season championship. The Lightning had to go to three games to take the best-of-three series with the Perth Redbacks. The Lightning swept the best-of-three series with the Geraldton Buccaneers in the semifinals, setting up the grand Final match-up with Perry Lakes.
Payne was a four-year standout playing for his dad, Eddie Payne, at Upstate from 2004-08 and was named the male Student-Athlete of the Year as a senior. He averaged 11.6 points for his career and finished his four years ranked ninth all-time in scoring with 1,381 points. As a senior, he averaged 14.9 points in leading Upstate in its first year playing on the NCAA Division I level and in the A-Sun. We was named to the all-tournament teams at the BP Top of the World Classic in Fairbanks, Alaska, and the State Farm Sun Bowl Tournament in El Paso, Texas. He became the first Upstate basketball player to earn weekly honors from the A-Sun, earning player of the week honors following Upstate's win at SMU. He was also a standout in the classroom, earning first team ESPN the Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District honors as a senior. He was a three-time member of the Peach Belt Conference Presidential Academic Honor Roll and a member of the A-Sun All-Academic team in 2007-08.
