FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 1-5-05

Women's Basketball: AASU 72, No. 17 GC&SU 69
Men's Basketball: AASU 66, GC&SU 58

SAVANNAH, Ga. – The Armstrong Atlantic State men’s and women’s basketball teams opened up the 2004-05 Peach Belt Conference season with a doubleheader sweep of visiting GC&SU at Alumni Arena on Wednesday evening. The AASU men, buoyed by a record performance from sophomore Bryan Taylor, downed the Bobcats by a 66-58 score, while the AASU women knocked off the No. 17-ranked Lady Bobcats, 72-69.

The Lady Pirates (11-4, 1-0 PBC) and the Lady Bobcats (9-3, 0-1) had to shake off some New Year’s rust first, however, as both teams combined to shoot less than 33 percent from the field in the first half as AASU took a 25-20 lead into intermission. Afterwards, it was a much different game as both teams shot better than 50 percent from the field, including an unconscious 7-of-8 performance from the Lady Bobcats from three-point range. The game was tied with just 1:43 remaining, and a jumper by Ashley Williams gave GC&SU a two-point lead with 1:23 left. AASU’s Alicia Durham answered with a basket off of an offensive rebound to tie it up again at 68-all with 1:02 left. LaWanna Leon then converted one of two free throws to put the Lady Bobcats up by one with 42 seconds left, but AASU’s Audosha Kelley buried a jumper from just beyond the free throw line with 28 seconds left to give the Pirates the lead for good. GC&SU had a chance to tie the game with 12.8 seconds left, but Leon’s baseline jumper was off the mark and a turnaround shot by Cassie Miliner was rebounded by Kelley to seal the win.

Kelley led all scorers with 22 points and 10 rebounds for the double-double, while Durham also chipped in a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. GC&SU’s Williams led the Lady Bobcats with 18 points off the bench, including 4-of-5 shooting from three-point range, while Latia Love added 16 points. The win was the third straight for AASU over a ranked GC&SU squad.

In men’s action, the Bobcats (8-4, 0-1 PBC) came out on fire, jumping out to a 15-2 lead in the game’s first five minutes to threaten AASU’s perfect home record. AASU (9-3, 1-0 PBC) answered back with a 22-6 run to take the lead, 24-21, on a Lorenzo Lawrence three-pointer with 5:21 left until intermission. AASU then took a seven-point lead, 33-26, into halftime.

In the second half, the Pirates extended their lead to 10 on a Clennon Preyear layup with five minutes left, but GC&SU made a game of it in the last minute. Down by eight, a foul and a technical foul on Preyear with 55 seconds remaining gave GC&SU four free throws, which Bryan Harrison converted to cut the lead to four. A turnover and a foul by Bryan Taylor on Andre Smith put the Bobcats at the line with 38 seconds left, but Smith could only make one. AASU then hit five free throws in the final 18 seconds to ice the victory, the fifth in a row for the Pirates.

Taylor led all players with 21 points and added a career-high 18 rebounds, a new Alumni Arena single-game record. The old record of 17 was held by four players, most recently AASU’s Greg Favors vs. Columbus State in 2001. Alex Carter added 15 points and Lorenzo Lawrence chipped in 14 points for the Pirates. GC&SU was led by Bryan Harrison’s 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor and 7-of-7 free throw shooting, while Justin Dickens chipped in 12 points.

The Pirates and Lady Pirates next host Augusta State in PBC doubleheader action on Saturday, January 8, at 5:30 p.m. (women) and 7:30 p.m. (men) at Alumni Arena.

-Pirates-