Box Score AIKEN, S.C.--USC Aiken men's basketball team (2-8, 0-4 PBC) is defeated by Clayton State (10-2, 3-2 PBC) 73-58 tonight at "The Courthouse". The Pacers still look to tab their first conference win after falling in the last seven games. Clayton, the preseason conference favorites, continue on a their streak, winning the last seven games of the season. The series continues to run in the Lakers favor (5-8) while getting the last two wins between the teams.

The night started strong for the Pacers who kicked off a 14-5 run with a three-point bucket by freshman guard Kingsley Oguchi. Three more tre's would give the Pacers the lead at 15:21 before Clayton's John Beugnot hit a big three to bring the Lakers on a come back. The two teams battled close for the lead, keeping the game within five points up until 1:11 left in the half. 

Freshman Lukas Varga led the Pacer offense with 11 points and chipped in two rebounds. His three-pointer at 13:46 in the second half put the game at 39-43. Josh Poston came right up to hit another big three for USCA, putting them within three (42-45). At 12:55 on the game clock, Varga came from behind the Lakers' Maxi Rios and grabbed a big steal. Moments later, Chris Brown is fouled by T.J. Waldon and knocks down both extras to get the Pacers within one (44-45). 

Although the momentum seemed to be back on the Pacer bench, Tiago DePaula commits a foul at 12:39 to give two points back to the Lakers. For the next six minutes, things did not fall into place for the struggling Pacer team. Clayton State went on a 15-0 run with USCA committing six turnovers. Down by 16 with just over seven minutes on the clock, the Pacers continued to make errors and miss baskets and never got with 12 as the clock ticked away.

USCA proved depth, however, getting 25 points off their bench and holding Clayton State to 18. The Lakers had 22 points in the paint while the Pacers had 13.

Todd McLaurin led the Laker's to the win with 23 points and six rebounds. John Beugnot added 17 points and eight rebounds.

USC Aiken tries again for conference win number one on Wednesday, January 11, as they travel to Florence, S.C., to take on the Patriots of Francis Marion at 7:30 p.m. Clayton State will play next on Saturday, January 14 at 4:00 p.m., hosting UNC Pembroke. 

Newspaper Box Score
Clayton State vs. USC Aiken
01/07/06 7:30 PM at Aiken, S.C. (The Courthouse)
At Aiken, S.C. (The Courthouse)

CLAYTON STATE 73, USC AIKEN 58

CLAYTON STATE (10-2, 3-2 PBC)
McLaurin, Todd 10-19 2-3 23; Beugnot, John 6-7 3-5 17; Kelley, Brandon 1-3
8-11 10; Sloan, Michael 2-7 2-2 6; Dawson, Donte 2-6 1-2 5; Waldon, TJ 2-2
0-0 4; Sawadogo, Aristide 1-2 2-2 4; Trotter, Jeff 1-2 0-0 2; Kalombo,
Cedrick 1-2 0-0 2; Rodriguez, Luis 0-1 0-0 0; Rios, Maxi 0-1 0-0 0. Totals
26-52 18-25 73.

USC AIKEN (2-8, 0-4 PBC)
Varga, Lukas 4-10 0-0 11; Oguchi, Kingsley 3-9 0-0 7; Poston, Josh 2-7 0-0
6; Burr, Kenny 1-3 3-4 6; Brown, Chris 1-5 2-2 5; Coates, Arnold 2-4 1-4 5;
Blocker, Richard 2-4 0-0 5; Oates, Theo 2-4 0-0 5; DePaula, Tiago 1-1 2-2 4;
Sampson, Anthony 0-2 3-4 3; Glover, Richard 0-4 1-2 1. Totals 18-53 12-18
58.

Clayton State................. 35 38 - 73
USC Aiken..................... 30 28 - 58

3-point goals-Clayton State 3-9 (Beugnot, John 2-3; McLaurin, Todd 1-2;
Sloan, Michael 0-2; Rodriguez, Luis 0-1; Rios, Maxi 0-1), USC Aiken 10-30
(Varga, Lukas 3-7; Poston, Josh 2-6; Oguchi, Kingsley 1-3; Brown, Chris 1-4;
Burr, Kenny 1-3; Oates, Theo 1-1; Blocker, Richard 1-3; Glover, Richard 0-2;
Sampson, Anthony 0-1). Fouled out--Clayton State-Waldon, TJ, USC Aiken-None.
Rebounds-Clayton State 37 (Beugnot, John 8), USC Aiken 30 (Coates, Arnold
7). Assists-Clayton State 12 (McLaurin, Todd 3; Sloan, Michael 3), USC Aiken
13 (Glover, Richard 3; Blocker, Richard 3). Total fouls-Clayton State 17,
USC Aiken 22. A-1215