Box Score AIKEN, S.C.--With a crowd of more than 1,500 looking on, USC Aiken (2-10, 0-6 PBC) drops its ninth straight as the USC Upstate Spartans (10-2, 5-1 PBC) get their fourth-straight win of the season. The long-time series continues to side with the Spartans as they have won the last five meetings, with an overall 45-19 record over the Pacers. With the win Wednesday night, Upstate snaps a two-game road loss streak and moves to 10-2 overall. (KENNY BURR PICTURED)

The night began slowly for both teams as USC Aiken struggled early and committed four fouls and three turnovers in the first four minutes of game time. With the teams playing even on both sides, the score is tied five times within the first six minutes. At 16:20 and down by two points, the Pacers Tiago DePaula gets a block and converts the defensive play down court for the two-point basket inside the paint.

The game continues to battle close until the Spartans Luke Payne steals the ball and sends it quickly down court to Erikas Kaupaitis who makes the jumper and gives Upstate the 18-14 lead. The Spartans increase their lead as they go on a 15-4 and hold off the Pacers, making the score 33-18 with just over four minutes remaining in the half. Upstate continues to convert on offense as the Pacers miss three three's in the remaining minutes giving the edge to the Spartans 40-26 at the half.

USCA, a generally good free-throw shooting team, posted only 16.7 percen (1-of-6) from the line in the first half and went on to shoot 30 percent for the game (6-of-20), their lowest on the season.

Upstate was able to knock down nearly 77 percent (13-of-17) from the charity stripe for the game.

Midway into the second half and the score favoring the Spartans 48-35, the Pacers Chris Brown finds the basket deep outside for a big three and sends USCA on a 5-0 run. A foul by Daniel Quinlan sends freshman Kingsley Oguchi to the line who shoots 1-1 and gets USCA to within eight (48-40). 

The Pacers were able to get as close as seven points but missed many offensive opportunities and Upstate held on to get the win 69-62.

Turnovers and free throws dramatically affected the game for USC Aiken, who turned it over 24 times to Upstate's 16. The Spartans were able to convert those turnovers to 29 points while USCA got only 17.

Richard Blocker, Kenny Burr and Arnold Coates all posted double-figure points for the Pacers and Coates pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.

Jeremy Byrd led the Spartan offense with 16 points; Quinlan and Kaupaitis were steps behind with 14 and 12 points respectively.

USC Aiken will host the Braves of UNC Pembroke on Wednesday, January 18, at 7:30 p.m. in "The Courthouse". Upstate will travel to Armstrong Atlantic to face the Pirates at 7:30 p.m.
Newspaper Box Score
USC Upstate vs USC Aiken
01/14/06 7:30 PM at Aiken, S.C. (The Courthouse)
At Aiken, S.C. (The Courthouse)

USC UPSTATE 69, USC AIKEN 62

USC UPSTATE (10-2, 5-1 PBC)
Byrd, Jeremy 6-11 4-5 16; Quinlan, Daniel 6-10 0-0 14; Kaupaitis, Erikas 5-7
2-2 12; Payne, Luke 2-8 5-6 9; Grgurovic, Ivica 4-9 1-2 9; Pikunic, Ante 2-3
0-0 4; Free, Jay 1-6 0-0 2; Eppinger, Preston 1-2 0-0 2; Wartenberger, Marc
0-0 1-2 1. Totals 27-56 13-17 69.

USC AIKEN (2-10, 0-6 PBC)
Burr, Kenny 4-10 2-2 13; Blocker, Richard 4-8 0-2 10; Coates, Arnold 5-7 0-2
10; Oguchi, Kingsley 1-3 3-8 5; Varga, Lukas 2-8 0-0 5; Brown, Chris 2-6 0-0
5; Poston, Josh 2-2 0-0 5; DePaula, Tiago 2-4 1-2 5; Frater, Scotty 1-1 0-3
2; Oates, Theo 1-1 0-0 2; Glover, Richard 0-4 0-0 0; Sampson, Anthony 0-0
0-1 0. Totals 24-54 6-20 62.

USC Upstate................... 40 29 - 69
USC Aiken..................... 26 36 - 62

3-point goals-USC Upstate 2-13 (Quinlan, Daniel 2-4; Payne, Luke 0-5;Grgurovic, Ivica -1; Free, Jay 0-2; Byrd, Jeremy 0-1), USC Aiken 8-21(Burr, Kenny 3-5; Blocker, Richard 2-3; Varga, Lukas 1-6; Brown, Chris 1-2; Poston, Josh 1-1; Glover, Richard 0-3; Oguchi, Kingsley 0-1). Fouled out--USC Upstate-None, USC Aiken-Brown, Chris. Rebounds-USC Upstate 32 (Grgurovic, Ivica 7), USC Aiken 39 (Coates, Arnold 8). Assists-USC Upstate16 (Byrd, Jeremy 4), USC Aiken 18 (Brown, Chris 5). Total fouls-USC Upstate 21, USC Aiken 23. A-1518