Box Score AUGUSTA, Ga.--USC Aiken (6-20) put together its best game of basketball on Wednesday night to knock off North Florida (14-16) 80-72 in the opening round of the 2005 Peach Belt Conference Men's Basketball Tournament at the Christenberry Fieldhouse. The Pacers are 5-0 all-time versus the Ospreys in the PBC Tournament and have ended their season four of the last five years. 

"I thought our players competed and played hard for 40 minutes," said USCA interim head coach Steve Franklin. "We had players step up and make plays, and that was the difference in the game. I told the guys coming in that we had nothing to lose and to have some fun." 

The Pacers used solid shooting, balanced scoring, and a strong second-half rebounding effort to down one of the PBC's hottest teams in North Florida, winners of nine of their last 12. Nine of 10 Pacers scored led by Josh Poston's 16 off the bench. North Florida had zero bench points and just one field goal attempt by a non-starter. 

UNF controlled the opening eight minutes of play. Trailing 16-9, USCA went on a 9-0 run to take their first lead of the game 18-16 on Marcus Robinson's jumper with 11:24 on the clock. The Pacers led by as many as six in the first half with the Ospreys tying the game at 34-34 on two free throws by Chris Timberlake with 2:29 left in the half. 

Josh Geyer's putback and Franchot Brown's buzzer beater gave the Pacers a 38-34 advantage at the break. USCA held a 17-4 edge in points off turnovers in the first stanza. 

Robinson's jumper with 10:48 to play extended the USCA margin to 51-46. Trailing by that same deficit with 5:26 remaining, UNF made their final move, rattling off eight-straight points to forge in front 62-59 on Riley Didion's two free throws with 2:33 left. 

But Arnold Coates hit a jumper and Poston sank two free throws inside of 30 seconds later for the final lead change as the Pacers surged ahead 63-62. USCA drained 15-of-16 free throws inside the final 54.9 seconds to seal the impressive 80-72 win. After not going to the line at all in the first half, the Pacers connected on 19-of-23 in the final frame for 82.6 percent. 

Geyer finished with 15 for USCA on 6-of-11 shooting while Richard Blocker was also in double figures with 12. 

Donny Lotz led all scorers with 24 on 11-of-18 from the field. David Ashwell added 16 points and 11 rebounds while Timberlake and Derrick Scott chipped in 13 and 10 respectively. 

Both teams shot over 48.0 percent for the game, but USC Aiken out rebounded North Florida 24-13 in the second half and pulled down 15 offensive boards for the game. 

USC Aiken, who picks up their first win over a team other than UNC Pembroke for the first time since December 4, 2004, advances to Friday's quarterfinal round for the fourth time in five years and will face USC Upstate at 6:00 PM. 

Newspaper Box Score
USC Aiken vs North Florida
03/02/05 6:00 pm at Augusta, Ga. (Christenberry Fieldhouse)
USC AIKEN 80, NORTH FLORIDA 72

USC AIKEN (6-20)
Poston, Josh 3-8 8-8 16; Geyer, Josh 6-11 3-3 15; Blocker, Richard 4-9 2-2 12; Brown, Franchot 4-6 1-2 9; Robinson, Marcus 4-9 0-2 8; Burr, Kenny 2-6 2-2 7; Coates, Arnold 2-3 2-2 6; Sampson, Anthony 2-2 0-0 4; Boyd, Trent 1-2 1-2 3; Glover, Richard 0-1 0-0 0; Totals 28-57 19-23 80.

NORTH FLORIDA (14-16)
Lotz, Donny 11-18 0-3 24; Ashwell, David 7-11 2-2 16; Timberlake, Chris 4-8 3-5 13; Scott, Derrick 3-9 3-3 10; Didion, Riley 3-11 3-5 9; McNally, Carl 0-1 0-0 0; Lee, Michael 0-0 0-0 0; Fudge, George 0-0 0-0 0; Earl, Anthony 0-0 0-0 0; Totals 28-58 11-20 72. 

USC Aiken..................... 38 42 - 80
North Florida................. 34 38 - 72

3-point goals-USC Aiken 5-15 (Poston, Josh 2-4; Blocker, Richard 2-5; Burr, Kenny 1-3; Geyer, Josh 0-2; Glover, Richard 0-1), North Florida 5-15 (Lotz, Donny 2-4; Timberlake, Chris 2-4; Scott, Derrick 1-4; Didion, Riley 0-2; McNally, Carl 0-1). Fouled out--USC Aiken-Geyer, Josh, North Florida-None. Rebounds-USC Aiken 39 (Blocker, Richard 6; Geyer, Josh 6; Brown, Franchot 6), North Florida 28 (Ashwell, David 11). Assists-USC Aiken 14 (Poston, Josh 5), North Florida 15 (Timberlake, Chris 4). Total fouls-USC Aiken 22, North Florida 18. A-225.