Box Score SPARTANBURG, S.C.--USC Aiken's men's basketball team couldn't overcome a 14-0 run by USC Spartanburg in the first six minutes of the second half and fell to the Rifles, 73-65, tonight in Spartanburg, S.C. Curt Triplin scored a career best 26 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds for the Pacers (6-6, 0-1 PBC). Eric Murrell led USCS (8-4, 1-0 PBC) with 19 points.

USC Aiken took a 35-33 lead into the locker room at halftime, but after Triplin's basket at the 19:21 mark of the second half made it 39-35 the Pacers were outscored 14-0 over the next five minutes. Charleston Long, Spartanburg's leading scorer entering the game, began the run with a jumper and scored six of his 12 points as the Rifles built a 10-point advantage. Two free throws by Erikas Kaupaitis capped off the run and put USCS ahead 49-39 with 14:21 to play.

Back-to-back layups by Minda Statkus and Bryant Latimer brought the Pacers within four points, 53-49, with 8:05 left in the game. The Rifles however pushed out ahead by 10 on two more occasions, the last coming off a dunk by Long with 3:52 remaining. 

USCA didn't quit. On the Pacers next possession Triplin scored on a layup and drew a foul. His free throw, followed by a turnover by Spartanburg's C.J Paul and another layup on the other end by Todd Williams closed the gap to five, 63-58, with 3:32 left in the game. USCA's run was stopped when Statkus was charged with a technical foul and the Rifles converted on both free throws and their offensive possession to go back up by nine with 2:36 on the clock.

The Pacers put together one last run with five unanswered to close within four points, 67-63, with just over a minute remaining but USC Spartanburg connected on all six free throw attempts inside the final minute to secure the win.
Triplin made nine-of-15 shots from the field and seven-of-eight at the charity stripe for his career high 26 points. His 13 rebounds gave the junior his sixth double-double of the season. Long finished with a team-high nine rebounds for USCS and Paul added 12 points and seven assists. 

The Pacers will be back in action on Saturday when they travel to Kennesaw, Ga., to face Kennesaw State University at 4:00 p.m. The Owls were picked second in the Peach Belt Conference in the pre-season coaches' poll.

SCORING:
USC Spartanburg (73): Charleston Long 12, Kevin Harrington 9, Charlie O'Neal 5, C.J. Paul 12, Eric Murrell 19, Richie Stevens 2, Jay Free 2, Erikas Kaupaitis 9, Petros Tsampas 3 

USC Aiken (65): Curt Triplin 26, Todd Williams 8, Minda Statkus 4, Bryant Latimer 8, Lee Burton 9, Leroy Williams 4, Martynas Valaitis 6