Saturday, December 3, 2005

SAINTS OVERCOME PACERS 103-96 IN OVERTIME
Marcus Robinson leads
Four Saints in double figures with 21 points and 13 rebounds

AIKEN, S.C. - The Peach Belt Conference opened for USC Aiken (2-4, 0-1 PBC) with a thrilling OT loss to conference newcomer North Georgia College & State University (3-2, 2-0 PBC), Saturday evening at “The Courthouse”.

Senior Marcus Robinson led the Saints with 21 points and 13 rebounds in his reunion with his old squad from the 04-05 season. Junior Buzz Wehunt had another standout night leading the North Georgia team in points for the second consecutive game and recording his first double-double in his career with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Mark Causey recorded his first double-double of the season with 21 points and 11 rebounds and junior Matt Causey picked up his second consecutive double digit performance with 18 points and 11 assists.

Senior Richard Blocker posted his third double double figures in the last four games with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Lukas Varga who had 20 points and Arnold Coates with 23 helped give USCA a night for the record books.

An astounding 37 three-pointers were attempted by the Pacers, which broke the single-game attempt record, previously held at 33 from the 1999-00 season. The Pacers and the Saints broke USCA's record for most points by both teams with 199, previously held at 197 from the 1988-89 season. USC Aiken's 96 points broke the original losing-effort point total at 94, from the 1994-95 season.

USCA started off strong with a steal by Josh Poston who threw the ball up high for the slam-dunk by Coates to give the Pacers the 2-0 lead. USCA held onto the lead for the first eight minutes of the game before a three-pointer by the Saints' Wehunt gave NGC&SU the lead and a 2-9 run over the next two minutes. The Saints would get up to a nine-point advantage before Kenny Burr would take the assist from Terrence Woodbury and knock back a big three to take the Pacers on a 11-4 run. The game would stay close, sending the teams into the locker rooms with the Saints up 45-41.

Burr and Coates led the Pacers in the first half each posting double figures at 10 and 14, respectively. Coates would go on to shoot 9-9 at the charity stripe for the night and 7-17 from the field.

Both teams came out of the second-half game hungry for a victory giving way to four lead changes in the first five minutes. A steal by NGC&SU's Matt Causey at 15:09, who converted it to a jumper, sent the Saints on a 17-6 run over the next six minutes, ending in a 70-59 advantage over the Pacers.

The Pacers battled back with a 16-7 run sparked by a steal from Coates converting to a trey from Varga. With two minutes on the game clock, Varga converted another huge three-pointer and put the Pacers within two at 88-86. Possession battled back and forth in the next 40 seconds, each team missing two jumpers. At 1:37 another steal from Coates, who made the basket, tied the game. The next minute and a half ticked by with no points and with four seconds on the clock the Saints' Mark Causey went up for the jumper but was denied by the fingertips of Varga. The Pacers quickly called a time out with 1.6 seconds on the game clock. USCA inbounded the ball down the court to Burr who couldn't get a shot off before time expired, sending the game into OT.

Over time opened up with the advantage to NGC&SU who jumped out 96-91, after a couple of free throws and jumpers in the first two minutes. The early start proved too much to overcome, as the Pacers never got within six for the remainder of the OT, falling 103-96.

NGC&SU had a significant presence in the paint, out scoring the Pacers 52-20.

USC Aiken shot season-best 80 percent from the charity stripe, with a previous game-high of 69.8 percent versus Benedict on November 19.

The Pacers will have one road game over the holiday season traveling to Tusculum on Thursday, December 15 at 7:30 p.m. The next home game will be on Friday, December 30, at 7:30 p.m., versus Armstrong Atlantic. NGC&SU will host UNC Pembroke on Thursday, December 15, at 7:30 p.m.

Box Score

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