Box Score GREENVILLE, Tenn.--Tusculum (9-3) capitalized on 43 free throw opportunities to get by a game USC Aiken (2-5) squad 76-67 on Friday afternoon in non-conference men's basketball action at Pioneer Arena. The Pioneers attempted nearly as many free throws (43) as shots from the field (49) while holding the high-octane Pacers to their second-lowest scoring output of the season. 

USC Aiken pushed out to a nine-point advantage midway through the opening half on a pair of free throws by Anthony Sampson. The 6-6 senior scored all four of his points during the 7-0 run that made it 15-6 with 8:33 left. 

Leading 27-19 with 1:29 remaining, Tusculum got five of Gabe Story's seven points over the final 89 ticks in the half to cap an 8-2 run that closed the gap to a single bucket, 29-27, at the break. USC Aiken never trailed in the first half with just one tie coming at 27-27. 

The second half was a different story. Donald Sexton drilled back-to-back treys to open the final stanza and put the Pioneers up 33-29 with 18:24 on the clock. Richard Blocker then exploded for nine-straight points as USC Aiken countered with an 11-3 run to push back in front 40-36 at the 16:32 mark. The second half featured 11 lead changes and six ties with neither team leading by more than three points from the 16:14 mark until inside of four minutes to play. 

Tied at 56-56 with 4:41 on the clock, Tusculum rattled off 10-straight in a decisive blow to stake a 66-56 lead with 3:30 to play. The Pacers did fight back on a pair of threes from Lukas Varga and Josh Poston to pull within 66-63 with 2:16 remaining, but the Pioneers converted 11-of-14 at the line in the final five minutes, compared to 3-of-4 for USCA, to hold on for the win.

Blocker led the Pacers with 18 points, including 12 in the second half, on 7-of-12 from the field. Varga added 12 points on 2-of-5 from the three-point line while Kingsley Oguchi pulled down a team-high seven rebounds off the bench. 

A balanced Pacer attack resulted in 12 of the 13 players seeing action for USC Aiken finding the scoring column. 

Sexton poured in all but two of his game-high 23 in the final frame finishing 5-of-13 from the field and 11-of-12 at the stripe. Matt Farus added 14 points and eight boards off the Tusculum bench while Jordan Lear and Chris Poore chipped in 10 points each. As a team, Tusculum was 28-of-43 at the line for 65.1 percent. 

The Pacers made the most of their opportunities at the stripe connecting on 13-of-15 attempts for 86.7 percent. USC Aiken also turned the ball over a season-low 12 times and won the battle of the boards 42-40. 

USC Aiken will break for the holidays before returning home to host Armstrong Atlantic State on Friday, December 30 at 7:30 PM in a Peach Belt Conference clash. 

Newspaper Box Score
USC Aiken vs Tusculum
12/15/05 12:00 PM at Greeneville, Tenn. (Pioneer Arena)

TUSCULUM 76, USC AIKEN 67

USC AIKEN (2-5)
Blocker, Richard 7-12 1-1 18; Varga, Lukas 4-11 2-2 12; Poston, Josh 1-6 3-4 6; Burr, Kenny 1-3 2-2 5; Brown, Chris 1-6 2-2 5; Woodbury, Terrence 2-2 0-0 4; Sampson, Anthony 1-2 2-2 4; Oguchi, Kingsley 2-7 0-0 4; Oates, Theo 1-4 1-2 3; Frater, Scotty 1-2 0-0 2; Glover, Richard 1-7 0-0 2; Coates, Arnold 1-4 0-0 2; DePaula, Tiago 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 23-69 13-15 67.

TUSCULUM (9-3)
Sexton, Donald 5-13 11-12 23; Farus, Matt 2-9 9-9 14; Poore, Chris 5-7 0-5 10; Lear, Jordan 3-4 4-10 10; Tshomba, Douglas 2-5 1-2 7; Story, Gabe 2-3 3-5 7; Minnefee, Larry 1-3 0-0 3; Poppe, Serge 1-4 0-0 2; Daliu, Bruno 0-0 0-0 0; White, Tyler 0-0 0-0 0; Cain, Emory 0-0 0-0 0; Steinke, Dane 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-49 28-43 76.

USC Aiken.................... 29 38 - 67
Tusculum...................... 27 49 - 76

3-point goals-USC Aiken 8-23 (Blocker, Richard 3-7; Varga, Lukas 2-5; Brown, Chris 1-3; Burr, Kenny 1-2; Poston, Josh 1-4; Glover, Richard 0-1; Oguchi, Kingsley 0-1), Tusculum 6-18 (Tshomba, Douglas 2-5; Sexton, Donald 2-4; Minnefee, Larry 1-1; Farus, Matt 1-5; Poppe, Serge 0-2; Lear, Jordan 0-1). Fouled out--USC Aiken-Coates, Arnold, Tusculum-None. Rebounds-USC Aiken 42 (Oguchi, Kingsley 7), Tusculum 40 (Poore, Chris 8; Farus, Matt 8). Assists-USC Aiken 8 (Coates, Arnold 2), Tusculum 14 (Sexton, Donald 5). Total fouls-USC Aiken 33, Tusculum 20. A-1026.