Box Score CHARLESTON, S.C.--USC Aiken (1-5, 1-1 PBC) lost to the College of Charleston, 91-59, in non-conference men's basketball, tonight, in Charleston, S.C. The Cougars (6-0) shot 56.5 percent (13-for-23) from behind the three-point line and forced the Pacers to commit a season-high 25 turnovers in front of the largest crowd (3,688) to watch the Cougars battle a non-division I opponent in school history.
USC Aiken got off to a slow start as the Cougars scored the first seven points of the game.
Eric Dugans' free throw got the Pacers on the board with 16:34 to go in the first half. Troy Wheless' second three-pointer of the game put the College of Charleston out in front 10-1. After a dunk by
Jamall Gray, the Cougars went on a 10-0 run to go up by 17 points, 20-3, with 12:05 remaining in the first. Wheless scored 11 of Charleston's first 20 points. The Most Outstanding Player of last week's Great Alaska Shootout finished the night with 18 points, two rebounds, one assist and connected on four of his seven three-point shot attempts.
Five points by
Lee Burton, a jumper and a three-pointer, pulled the Pacers to within nine points, 27-18, with 6:41 to go.
Burton led USC Aiken with 18 points on the night. The junior hit 7-of-15 shots from the field and 3-of-5 shots from long range.
A Mike Benton lay-up for the Cougars began a 24-4 College of Charleston run that lasted the final 6 minutes and 26 seconds of the first half. The Pacers found themselves down by 29 points, 51-22, at the half. Charleston shot 54.5 percent (18-for-33) from the field in the first half, including an amazing 64.3 percent (9-for-14) from behind the three-point arch. The Cougars forced 17 USCA turnovers in the first 20 minutes while only committing 5 of their own.
Dugans began the second half-scoring with a trey to cut the Cougar lead to 26 points, 51-25, with 18:24 left in the game. After a dunk by Benton put Charleston back on top by 30,
Mitch Lewis connected on a three-point basket, for his only points in the game.
Minda Statkus followed with a lay-up to cut the College of Charleston lead to 25 points, 57-32, with 15:23 to go. The Pacers would get no closer the rest of the game. Wheless put a stop to the USCA run with another three-pointer to put the Cougars out in front, 60-32. The Cougars would keep their lead around 30 points for the next 12 minutes.
A three-pointer by Zeke Johnson and a lay-up by Bernie Coaxum gave Charleston their largest lead of the night, 37 points (88-51) with 1:44 left in the game. Johnson finished with a game-high 25 points on 10-of-19 shooting and 3-of-5 shooting from three-point range. He added six rebounds and three assists to his totals.
Back to back free throws by
Statkus cut the Cougar lead to 31 points with 12 seconds remaining. The College of Charleston would tack on one more free throw to set the final score at 91-59.
USC Aiken finished the night shooting 37.3 percent (19-for-51) from the field, 53.3 percent (8-for-15) from three-point range and 61.9 percent (13-for-21) from the charity stripe. USCA was outscored in the paint 28-10 and the Cougars held a 31-12 advantage in points off turnovers. The Cougars grabbed 37 rebounds, led by Rudy Rothseiden's game-high 13 boards, compared to 31 rebounds for USC Aiken.
Bryant Latimer grabbed a team-high five rebounds for the Pacers. The junior also added 10 points on just 3-for-11 shooting.
The Pacers will take the week off for final exams and return to action next Saturday, December 14. USC Aiken will travel to Kennesaw, Ga., for a Peach Belt Conference game against the Kennesaw State Owls. The PBC match-up will tip-off at 4:00 p.m.
SCORING:
College of Charleston (91): Zeke Johnson 25, Joe Weurding 4, Mike Benton 4, Troy Wheless 18, Tony Mitchell 9, Quinton Hollis 8, Bernie Coaxum 2, Rudy Rothseiden 2, Miles Pittman 2, Thomas Mobley 13, Marcus Johnson 4
USC Aiken (59): Lee Burton 18,
Minda Statkus 9,
Todd Williams 2,
Bryant Latimer 10,
Eric Dugans 4,
Leroy Williams 7,
Jamall Gray 2,
Taurus Watson 2,
Mitch Lewis 3,
Martynas Valaitis 2
