FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 1-11-03

Men's College Basketball: USC Spartanburg 63, AASU 62
Women's College Basketball: AASU 84, USC Spartanburg 49

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Armstrong Atlantic State women's basketball team opened the game on an 18-4 run and cruised past USC Spartanburg, 84-49, to keep the Lady Pirates in first place in the Peach Belt Conference. The Pirate men lost to USC Spartanburg for the first time in 10 games, rallying from a 14-point halftime deficit but falling by one point, 63-62.

The Lady Pirates (11-1, 4-0 PBC) scored a season-high 50 points in the first half to open up a 50-22 lead at halftime, forcing 21 turnovers by the Lady Rifles (6-5, 0-3 PBC) to build a comfortable lead and coast to victory. Junior Tasha Washington led all scorers with 17 points and junior Tishay Lewis added 14 points for AASU, who continued their best start in school history. USC Spartanburg was led by Adrianne Smalls, who scored 11 points off the bench. The Lady Pirates scored over 80 points for the fourth consecutive game, the first time that's happened for an AASU women's basketball team since 1984-85, and won their seventh consecutive contest.

The Pirate men brought a nine-game winning streak against USC Spartanburg into Saturday's contest and went up early on the Rifles, 9-6, but USCS then held the Pirates without a point for the next eight and a half minutes as they built a 14-point halftime lead, 37-23. AASU (3-8, 2-2 PBC) rallied in the second half, though, shooting 58 percent from the field to cut the lead to one. Daryl Williams' three-pointer from the top of the key with 11 seconds remaining put the Pirates to within one, 61-60, then after two free throws from Curtis Blair, Scott Mattingly hit a layup with 2.3 seconds remaining. USCS (7-4, 1-2 PBC) was able to inbound the ball and run off the time to get its first win over AASU since the 1996-97 season. Williams led all players with 22 points, while Scott Mattingly added 12 off the bench for the Pirates. USC Spartanburg was led by Kevin Harrington's 17 points and C.J. Paul's 12 points.

The Pirate squads will be next in action on Monday, January 13 as they host UNC Pembroke at Alumni Arena. 5:30 p.m. for the women's game and 7:30 p.m. for the men's game.

- Pirates -