Box Score AIKEN, S.C.--USC Aiken fell to Catawba College, 73-66, tonight in a match-up of men's basketball teams at "The Courthouse" in Aiken, S.C. Helgi Magnusson scored a game-high 23 points and added eight rebounds, four steals, three assists and one block to lead the Indians (3-2). Three Pacers (3-3), Franchot Brown, Arnold Coates and Curt Triplin, scored 10 points each.

Catawba led by seven at halftime but scored the first eight points of the second half to jump out to a 15-point advantage, 42-27, with 18:02 left in the game. Magnusson connected on two three-pointers during the run.

Three-pointers by Richard Blocker at the 14:18 mark and Josh Geyer with 13:01 on the clock drew USCA to within five, 46-41, but Magnusson and Rokus Bartasius combined to push Catawba back out to a comfortable lead. Magnusson hit on a lay-up and two free throws and Bartasius connected on two lay-ups and a free throw for a 9-0 run that gave CC a 55-41 lead with 11:18 left to play.

Bartasius made six-of-eight from the field and one-of-two from the free throw line to finish with 14 points.

Two Magnusson free throws with 8:24 remaining gave Catawba its largest lead of the game, 16 points, 61-45. Magnusson made seven-of-13 from the floor, two-of-seven from beyond the three point arch and seven-of-eight from the charity stripe for his game-high 23 points.

The Pacers put together one more run to close within five points with less than a minute to go. Two treys by Richard Glover keyed a 12-3 run for USCA. Coates capped it off with a dunk that cut the Catawba advantage to 69-64 with 48 seconds showing on the clock.

The Indians made four-of-six from the free throw stripe in the final 40 seconds to seal the win.

After hitting on just 29.6 percent (eight-of-27) in the first half, USC Aiken made 16-of-34 (47.1) in the second 20-minutes of play and shot 39.3 percent for the game. Catawba made 36.4 percent (24-of-66) of its shots for the game including four-of-19 (21.1 percent) from behind the three-point arch. Both teams grabbed 46 rebounds but USCA lost the turnover battle 16-12.

Blocker nailed a three-pointer 22 seconds into the game to give the Pacers an early 3-0 lead. Catawba stormed back with nine unanswered to go in front 9-3 with just under 16 minutes left in the first half.

A lay-up by Coates and a Josh Poston free throw had USCA down by two, 13-11, with 12:02 to go before intermission. Jumpers by Jamel Hamilton and Jolly Manny gave the Indians a 10-point edge with 7:23 remaining in the first half.

Five straight points by Trent Boyd and Triplin closed the gap to just two points, 27-25, with 2:35 showing on the clock but CC ended the first half with a 7-2 run, including five points from Bartasius, and took a 34-27 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Triplin finished with nine rebounds to go along with his 10 points. Brown added 10 rebounds to his 10 points for the freshman's first career double-double. 

USC Aiken will return to action on Saturday when they travel to Tigerville, S.C., to face North Greenville College. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

SCORING:
Catawba College (73): Helgi Magnusson 23, Rokus Bartasius 14, Brian Graves 9, Jolly Manning 7, Zach Snyder 6, Ahmad Murphy 5, Andy Thomson 3, Brian Frasier 2, Jorvewe Gibson 2, Jamel Hamilton 2, Jason Diggs 0

USC Aiken (66): Franchot Brown 10, Arnold Coates 10, Curt Triplin 10, Richard Glover 9, Richard Blocker 9, Trent Boyd 5, Josh Poston 5, Josh Geyer 5, Marcus Robinson 3, Anthony Sampson 0, Kenny Burr 0