Box Score AIKEN, S.C. - Second-Ranked USC Aiken won its second game in as many days with an 86-66 win over Fort Valley State on Sunday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
The victory by USC Aiken improves the program back to .500 under head Coach
Vince Alexander. The Pacers are now 48-48 under Alexander, who has turned the program around in just under four seasons.
The Wildcats gave the Pacers an early scare, leading the contest by as many as seven points with just over 11 minutes to play in the first half. The Pacers took over from that point forward though, earning a nine-point advantage by halftime.
The second-ranked team in the nation regrouped even further at intermission to extend their lead to as many as 24 points in the second half before settling the final score at 86-66.
The Pacers had four players finish in double digits in the win over Fort Valley State.
Kingsley Oguchi (Houston, Texas/George Bush) and Cordaryl Ballard (Westerville, Ohio/Morehead State) both led the Pacers in the game with 13 points each.
Ballard was 5-for-9 from the field in the game, while Oguchi was 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Ballard concluded the victory with four steals. The four steals tied a career high for Ballard, who has now had four steals in a game in five separate outings for the Pacers.
Seth Leonard (York, Pa./William Penn) and
Josh Dollard (Hemingway, S.C./Auburn) both scored 11 in the win for USCA. Leonard hit on five of his eight field goals attempts to record the 11 points.
Dollard's 11 points extended his double-digit streak. He ends the victory over Fort Valley State having scored in double figures in all six USC Aiken games. Dollard is the only Pacer to score in double figures in each game currently.
Chris Commons (Toledo, Ohio/Findlay) had scored in double figures in each of the five previous games for USC Aiken, but his streak to start the year ended on Sunday with his seven points. Commons still secured nine rebounds in the game.
Brian Egwuatu (Houston, Texas/Texas Southern) finished with three blocks to lead the Pacers in the category.
Milton Meadows guided the Fort Valley attack, scoring a game-high 16 points. Meadows scored eight of his points from the charity stripe where he was 8-for-9. He was one of three Wildcats in double digits with Randy Graham (14) and Desmond Williams (10) both netting double figures in the loss.
Both teams shot over 40 percent in the game with USCA finishing the game shooting 46 percent. Fort Valley State shot 42.4 percent in the loss. The Pacers held the advantage in points in the paint (40-34), while USC Aiken scored nine more points (22-13) off turnovers.
The USC Aiken bench for the second straight game chipped in impressively in a Pacer victory by scoring 39 points.
The victory by the Pacers improves USC Aiken to 6-0 on the year entering its Christmas Break. The Pacers do not play again until they travel to the Florida Southern Tournament in Lakeland, Fla. USC Aiken will take on Saint Joseph's (Ind.) and host Florida Southern in the event. The tournament begins with USCA taking on Saint Joseph's at 5:15 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 29.
