Box Score MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. - The University of South Carolina Aiken men's basketball team acquired a huge victory over No. 14 Georgia College & State in Peach Belt Conference men's basketball action at the Centennial Center on Saturday afternoon.
USC Aiken is now 14-8 on the 2009-10 season. The Pacers improved to 9-6 on the year in Peach Belt Conference games with the win over the Bobcats.
Georgia College & State, which is ranked second in the latest regional poll, dropped its second straight contest with the loss to the Pacers. The loss to the Pacers marked the first time all season that they had fallen at home (8-1). GCSU is now 18-4 overall, including 11-2 in the PBC.
The victory over Georgia College & State by the Pacers means USC Aiken has now downed the top three teams in the Southeast Region, beating league foes and current region No. 1 Augusta State, 71-68, on Jan. 25 in addition to besting present Southeast Region No. 2 GCSU on Saturday. The Pacers also downed the South Atlantic Conference's Catawba, 92-90, on their home floor. Catawba is currently No. 3 in the latest region rankings.
USC Aiken opened the game on Saturday by taking advantage of six Georgia College & State turnovers early in the game to own an early 8-4 lead. Kevin Willis (Atlanta, Ga./Kaskaskia College) punctuated the opening minutes for the Pacers by flushing down an alley-oop.
The Bobcats would go on an 11-7 run over the next few minutes to even the game at 15-15 by the 11:13 mark of the first half.
Over the next 10 minutes neither team was able to procure much separation until Georgia College & State was able to earn a four-point 32-28 lead with a little over a minute until intermission. USC Aiken had the opportunity to cut the lead to one at halftime, but Casey McMasters' (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) three-point attempt from the left corner just rimmed out to leave the GCSU lead at four at halftime.
USC Aiken opened the second half on a four-point run to even the game at 32-32. The Pacers kept the run going at 7-0 to take a 35-32 at the 17:37 mark of the second half. Brown garnered the Pacers the advantage with a three-pointer from the left corner.
Brown then promptly hit another three-pointer to push the run to 10-0 and give the Pacers a six-point lead at 38-32 with under 17 minutes left in the game.
USC Aiken would keep things rolling from there as the two teams entered the first media timeout of the second half with the Pacers clinging to a nine-point 43-34 lead. The Pacers held the Bobcats to just one field goal in the first five minutes of the second half, utilizing a 15-2 run over the first five minutes of the stanza to own the nine-point lead.
The Bobcats scored their first two points in the second half on free throws. USC Aiken's defense held them without a field goal for almost eight minutes before they were finally able to secure a field goal with just over 12 minutes left in the game. USC Aiken would lead by as many as 13 in the contest during the stretch at 50-37.
Things would change in GCSU's favor over the next few minutes with the Bobcats going on a 14-6 run over the next six minutes to leave the Pacers ahead by just five points at 56-51.
By the 4:28 mark, GCSU had cut the Pacer lead to just two points at 59-57, but USC Aiken's Byron Faison (Sumter, S.C./Winthrop) knocked down a critical three-pointer to push the Pacers' lead back to five at 62-57.
The Bobcats would be able to get back within two in the contest four minutes later at 64-62 with 1:03 remaining. Faison made sure that the Pacers would hold a two possession lead 30 seconds later when he hit a tough jumper from the right corner to earn the Pacers a 66-62 lead with 33 seconds left.
McMasters then hit one of two free throws to push the Pacers lead to five points at 67-62. GCSU made it a two-point contest on their next offensive possession with Ty Rowland hitting a fall away three-pointer with eight seconds left to make it 67-65.
GCSU made the mistake of fouling one of the best free throw shooters in the country next, sending Pacer guard Sterling Council to the free throw line with six seconds left. Clutch Council calmly hit both free throws to put the Pacers on top by four at 69-65.
USC Aiken stole the in-bounds pass next to pick up the victory over the nationally-ranked Bobcats.
Three Pacers finished in double figures in the win over the nationally-ranked Bobcats in McMasters, Brown and Faison. McMasters led all Pacers with 15 points. He secured 12 of his team-high 15 points in the second stanza.
Brown and Faison both ended the game with 14 points. They also did most of their damage in the second half with Brown scoring eight of his 14 in the second half, while Faison collected 11 of his 14 in the second half.
GCSU had three players finish in double figures as well with star Graham Martin scoring a game-high 18 points.
USC Aiken as a team finished its evening shooting 47.3 percent. The Pacer defense held the Bobcats to a 35.3 shooting performance from the floor. GCSU shot just 33.3 percent in the second half.
The USC Aiken athletic department will next hold a special "Black Out - Fight for Sight Night" as part of the men's and women's basketball doubleheader against UNC Pembroke at the Convocation Center on Wednesday, Feb. 17.
The special evening will be held in honor of USC Aiken all-time leading women's basketball scorer Meredith Legg.
Just weeks after finishing her illustrious Pacer career, Legg was diagnosed with a rare form of Melanoma eye cancer in her left eye.
To help raise funds and awareness for Melanoma Research, the USC Aiken athletic department is asking everyone to wear black to the doubleheader. Black is the official color of Melanoma cancer.
All proceeds on the evening will go towards Melanoma Research.
The evening gets underway at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 17 with the USC Aiken women tangling with Peach Belt Conference rival UNC Pembroke. The Pacer men will hit the hardwood against the UNC Pembroke men immediately following the women's game at approximately 7:30 p.m.