Box Score SAVANNAH, Ga.--Alumni Arena proved again to be a tough place to win at as the Pacers (4-15, 2-10 PBC) fall 75-65 to Armstrong Atlantic State (16-4, 10-3 PBC) Saturday afternoon. The Pirates have lost only one conference game at home all season and have beaten the Pacers during the last five consecutive meetings. USC Aiken stills hangs at the end of the conference rankings while the Pirates fight to take ahold of first place. (JOSH POSTON PICTURED)

The pace of the game was played very close as the Pacers battled with the regionally ranked #2 Armstrong Atlantic. USC Aiken continued to fight as they forced the lead to exchange seven times during the first half. In the opening four minutes neither team lead by more than two and the Pirates largest lead came after a jumper by Bryan Taylor put AASU up by four (11-7).

Back-to-back three's by Richard Blocker and Josh Poston gave the Pacers an edge on the lead with 14 minutes remaining in the half. Their lead would be shortly lived as the Pirates would answer back with their own back-to-back trey's by Nick Bloemhof and Kevin Parker, giving AASU the three-point lead (20-17).

At 8:46 on the clock the Pacers' Arnold Coates would step up for the jumper to give USCA the one point lead, 21-20. The bucket would give USCA a hold on their lead and the Pirates weren't able to get control back for the remainder of the half. Although AASU tied the game three more times, the Pacers moved out in front with a 38-36 lead at half time.

USC Aiken kept its lead through the first few minutes of the second half until a three-point bucket by Alex Carter at 16:49 gave the Pirates a three-point advantage (43-40). The Pacers took back the lead at 13:03 off a Tiago DePaula jumper with a one-point edge (50-49). It would end up being USC Aiken's last lead of the night.

A three-pointer by Blocker would get USCA to with two at 2:58 left in the game but the Pirate offensive would hit a spurt and go on a 10-0 to close out the game for AASU, ending it 75-65.

During the last two of USC Aiken's games, senior Richard Blocker has been an unstoppable force, posting 30-plus point games. Today, however, the Pirates froze him out and Blocker lined up in the ranks as an average shooter. His 12 points was second-best for the team but much less than his past two contributions.

Poston led the Pacers with 13 points and pulled down four rebounds. Kingsley Oguchi had a double figure night with 10 points and also tabbing four rebounds.

Taylor led the Pirates with 14 points and four rebounds. Carter added 12 points and seven rebounds and Tory Harris had 11 points.

USC Aiken will travel to rival Augusta State on Monday, February 6 to face-off with the Jaguars at 7:30 p.m. AASU will travel to Georgia College and State on Monday as well with the same tip-off time.

Newspaper Box Score
USC Aiken vs Armstrong Atlantic
02/04/06 4:00 PM at Savannah, Ga. (Alumni Arena)
At Savannah, Ga. (Alumni Arena)

ARMSTRONG ATLANTIC 75, USC AIKEN 65

USC AIKEN (4-15, 2-10 PBC)
Poston, Josh 4-8 2-2 13; Blocker, Richard 4-12 1-2 12; Oguchi, Kingsley 3-7 2-3 10; DePaula, Tiago 3-4 2-4 8; Coates, Arnold 4-7 0-0 8; Varga, Lukas 2-3 1-1 5; Sampson, Anthony 2-3 0-0 4; Burr, Kenny 1-2 0-0 3; Oates, Theo 1-4 0-0 2; Glover, Richard 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 24-52 8-12 65.

ARMSTRONG ATLANTIC (16-4, 10-3 PBC)
Taylor, Bryan 4-7 6-8 14; Carter, Alex 4-11 3-4 12; Harris, Tory 4-6 3-4 11; Galloway, Jamaal 3-8 1-2 9; Lopez, David 3-5 1-2 8; Parker, Kevin 2-4 3-4 7; Sanou, Patrick 3-4 0-0 6; Massamba, Darly 1-1 3-7 5; Bloemhof, Nick 1-1 0-0 3; Kane, William 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-48 20-31 75.

USC Aiken............................ 38 27 - 65
Armstrong Atlantic............ 36 39 - 75

3-point goals-USC Aiken 9-21 (Blocker, Richard 3-8; Poston, Josh 3-6; Oguchi, Kingsley 2-2; Burr, Kenny 1-2; Glover, Richard 0-2; Varga, Lukas 0-1), Armstrong Atlantic 5-14 (Galloway, Jamaal 2-7; Bloemhof, Nick 1-1; Lopez, David 1-1; Carter, Alex 1-3; Kane, William 0-1; Parker, Kevin 0-1). Fouled out--USC Aiken-DePaula, Tiago, Armstrong Atlantic-None. Rebounds-USC Aiken 31 (Oates, Theo 5), Armstrong Atlantic 30 (Carter, Alex 7). Assists-USC Aiken 11 (Poston, Josh 4), Armstrong Atlantic 11 (Parker, Kevin
4). Total fouls-USC Aiken 25, Armstrong Atlantic 14. A-645