Box Score AIKEN, S.C.--Arnold Coates eight-footer with 3.8 to play tied the game at 74-74 and forced overtime as USC Aiken (1-1) survived a late three-point flurry by Benedict College (0-1) to pull out the 89-87 overtime win on Saturday evening in non-conference men's basketball action. The Pacers led by 15 with 3:48 to play in regulation before the Tigers furious comeback, but USCA hung on to give new head coach Vince Alexander his first win a Pacer. 

Coates connected on the first of two free throws with 3:48 to play to extend the Pacer advantage to 67-52. Five ticks later, Malik McCullough converted a transition lay-up to spark a 22-5 run capped by Joel Brown's free throw with 9.2 remaining in the second half to give Benedict a 74-72 lead. During the run Brown was 2-of-2 from the three-point line and Benny Lewis also drilled a trey. 

Following Coates game-tying bucket, Charles Sweeney's attempt at the buzzer was off the mark. 

The Tigers carried momentum into the extra frame scoring six of the first eight points out of the blocks to take an 80-76 lead on Taiwan Byrd's jumper with 3:28 to play. But then a critical 11-2 swing by the Pacers keyed by 7-of-11 at the charity stripe put the Pacers back on top 87-82 with 22 ticks remaining. Byrd's triple at the buzzer set the final margin 89-87. 

Byrd finished with 20 points on 7-of-15 from the field to go with 11 rebounds. Brown and Lewis added 19 points each and were a combined 8-of-12 from downtown. McCullough chipped in 14 points in 38 minutes. Benedict finished 11-of-19 from beyond the arc for 57.9 percent. 

Kingsley Oguchi connected on 6-of-7 from the line for a team-best 16 points. Lukas Varga scored all 12 of his points in the first half while Richard Blocker and Terrence Woodbury each scored 13 points off the bench and combined for 12 rebounds.

As a team, USC Aiken out rebounded the Tigers 50-40 and got 45 bench points compared to 28 for Benedict.

In the first half, the Pacers led 27-20 with 1:50 remaining before closing the half on a 9-0 run to take a commanding 36-20 advantage at the break. 

The two teams combined for 65 free throw attempts after halftime as Benedict was 20-of-29 (69.0) during that span and the Pacers were 24-of-36 (66.7 percent).

USC Aiken will host the SAC / Peach Belt Clash next weekend, November 25-26. Benedict will play at Augusta State on Tuesday, November 22 at 7:00 PM. 

Newspaper Box Score
Benedict vs USC Aiken
11/19/05 7:30 PM at Aiken, S.C. (The Courthouse)

USC AIKEN 89, BENEDICT 87

BENEDICT (0-1)
Byrd,Taiwan 7-15 5-9 20; Brown,Joel 6-11 3-4 19; Lewis,Benny 5-10 5-6 19; McCullough,Malik 3-11 7-8 14; Baron,Zachary 2-3 0-0 4; Sweeney,Charles 2-6 0-0 4; Booker,Randy 1-3 0-0 3; Matthews,Tony 0-2 2-2 2; Obiajunwa,Joshua 1-5 0-0 2; Owens,Lamar 0-0 0-0 0; Myers,Corey 0-1 0-0 0; Jackson,Jerry 0-0 0-0 0; Perea,Jair 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-67 22-29 87.

USC AIKEN (1-1)
Oguchi, Kingsley 5-10 6-7 16; Blocker, Richard 6-10 1-4 13; Woodbury, Terrence 2-7 9-12 13; Varga, Lukas 4-9 3-5 12; Burr, Kenny 2-4 4-5 9; Brown, Chris 2-6 4-6 9; Glover, Richard 3-4 0-0 8; Coates, Arnold 2-7 3-4 7; Oates, Theo 1-4 0-0 2; Poston, Josh 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 27-65 30-43 89.

Benedict...................... 20 54 13 - 87
USC Aiken.................. 36 38 15 - 89

3-point goals-Benedict 11-19 (Brown,Joel 4-6; Lewis,Benny 4-6; Byrd,Taiwan 1-2; McCullough,Malik 1-3; Booker,Randy 1-1; Sweeney,Charles 0-1), USC Aiken 5-15 (Glover, Richard 2-2; Burr, Kenny 1-3; Varga, Lukas 1-2; Brown, Chris 1-2; Oates, Theo 0-1; Poston, Josh 0-2; Blocker, Richard 0-1; Oguchi, Kingsley 0-2). Fouled out--Benedict-Matthews,Tony; Obiajunwa,Joshua; McCullough,Malik, USC Aiken-None. Rebounds-Benedict 40 (Byrd,Taiwan 11), USC Aiken 50 (Woodbury, Terrence 7). Assists-Benedict 11 (McCullough,Malik 4), USC Aiken 16 (Brown, Chris 4; Varga, Lukas 4). Total fouls-Benedict 32, USC Aiken 27. A-553.