Box Score AIKEN, S.C.--USC Aiken's men's basketball team earned the fourth seed out of the PBC North Division, for next week's conference tournament, by beating Lander University, 75-70, tonight at "The Courthouse" in Aiken, S.C., in both teams' regular season finale. The Pacers (10-17, 4-12 PBC), who led from start to finish, used an 11-2 first half run to take control of the game and then withstood a late charge by the Bearcats (7-20, 3-13 PBC) in the closing minutes. 

USCA will begin play in the 2004 Peach Belt Conference Tournament on Wednesday. The Pacers will face the University of North Florida, the number five seed out of the South Division, at 6:00 p.m. The Ospreys won the only game played between the two teams this season, 85-70, at "The Courthouse" in Aiken on Feb. 21.

After a Lander turnover, Minda Statkus nailed a three-pointer 32 seconds into the game to give USC Aiken the early lead. A trey from Bryant Latimer followed by a jumper from Statkus put the Pacers out in front, 8-0, with 16:32 left in the first half. The Bearcats didn't score their first points until Richard Gilliam connected on a lay-up at the 15:35 mark. 

Statkus finished with a game-high 18 points on seven-of-nine shooting from the field and three-of-four from the free throw line. He added nine rebounds, three assists and four steals.

A three by Bryson Chattman brought Lander to within two points, 14-12, with 10:02 remaining in the first half. The Pacers answered however with an 11-2 run. Todd Williams' jumper four seconds after Chattman's bucket began the run and Leroy Williams capped it off with a dunk that put USCA ahead by 11 points, 25-14, with 5:41 showing on the clock. 

Back-to-back three-pointers by the Bearcats cut the USC Aiken advantage down to five points but Lee Burton nailed a trey of his own to push the Pacers back in front by nine, 32-23, with 2:06 to go before intermission. Latimer's free throw with one second to go sent USCA to the locker room with a 36-27 lead.

Lander connected on just eight-of-25 (32.0 percent) shots from the field in the first half, but half of them were from beyond the three-point arch. USC Aiken made 41.2 percent (14-of-34) of its first half shots and forced 16 Bearcat turnovers in the first 20 minutes of play.

Curt Triplin's jumper with 16:20 left in the game put the Pacers ahead by 11 points, 47-36. USCA would maintain a comfortable lead for the next 15 minutes. A Todd Williams dunk, followed by a lay-up from Statkus, gave USC Aiken its largest lead of the game, 15 points, 57-42, with 9:54 remaining. 

Williams scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half. He finished six-of-11 from the field with seven boards, three assists and one steal.

Lander's charge came in the final two minutes of the game. Two free throws by Triplin put the Pacers up by 10, 72-62, with 2:03 showing on the clock. Back-to-back three-pointers, sandwiched around a USCA turnover, brought the Bearcats to within four points with 1:22 to go. 

Gilliam made the second trey and finished with 17 points, four rebounds and four assists. Teammate Kenneth Nether also scored 17 points.

Gilliam's lay-up at the 1:07 mark cut the deficit to just three points, 73-70. USC Aiken made just two-of-four free throw attempts in the final 32 seconds, but Lander missed on three three-point attempts in the same time span to allow the Pacers to pull out the 75-70 win.

Both teams shot better than 50 percent in the second half. But USCA out-rebounded the Bearcats, 21-11. The Pacers finished with a 39-32 edge on the boards and made 47.4 percent (27-of-57) of their shots for the game. Lander hit on 42.6 percent (26-of-61) of its shots.

SCORING:
Lander University (70): Kenneth Nether 17, Michael Kuhn 5, Emmanuel Hodrea 6, Richard Gilliam 17, Jarred Jackson 7, J.T. Greene 0, Michael Griffin 5, Bryson Chattman 5, Arturs Stalbergs 8

USC Aiken (75): Leroy Williams 5, Minda Statkus 18, Todd Williams 17, Bryant Latimer 9, Lee Burton 13, Curt Triplin 8, Jamall Gray 5, Trent Boyd 0, Mira Jonuska 0