FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2-17-07

Men's Basketball: AASU 68, USC Upstate 61
Women's Basketball: AASU 81, USC Upstate 74

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Senior Tory Harris shined on Senior Day at Alumni Arena, hitting 8-of-11 shots from the floor en route to a game-high 21 points to lead the Armstrong Atlantic State men’s basketball team to a 68-61 Peach Belt Conference victory over visiting USC Upstate on Saturday afternoon. The Lady Pirates completed the doubleheader sweep of the Spartans with an 81-74 win.

Harris, one of three seniors playing in their final home game at Alumni Arena for the Pirates (19-6, 10-4 PBC), led a 16-2 run that erased a 9-1 advantage and put the Pirates up, 17-9, early in the contest. Harris finished the first half with 12 points as the Pirates led by seven 29-22, at intermission. The Spartans (16-9, 8-6 PBC) countered with Daniel Quinlan, who hit a game-tying three with 13:57 remaining in the contest, knotting the score at 35-all. From then on, the Pirates lived at the free throw line, scoring 21 points from the stripe the rest of the way to hold off the Spartans. In addition to going 8-for-11, Harris hit both three-point attempts and all three free throws, while fellow senior Bryan Taylor added a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. The third senior for the Pirates, Darly Massamba, chipped in nine points and seven rebounds. Quinlan led a quartet of Spartans in double figures with his 21 points, while Jeremy Bird chipped in 14 and Ante Pikunic and Luke Payne each chipped in 10.

In the women’s contest, the Lady Pirates (13-12, 7-7 PBC) placed four players in double figures, led by Tana Griffiths’ 21 points on 5-of-8 three-point shooting, in the victory over the short-handed Lady Spartans (11-14, 6-8 PBC). Lacey Willis had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds off the bench, while Kaneetha Gordon added her 17th double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds. USC Upstate, who dressed just seven players for the game, got a career-high 25 points from Courtney Hawkins and 12 points from Courtney Bradley. AASU hit 11-of-25 threes on the afternoon, the fourth time this season in which the Lady Pirates have hit 10 or more threes in a game. AASU also honored its four seniors after the game as Sarah Brown, Ashley Mason, Jennifer Anderson and Emily Perpich all played in their final home game as Lady Pirates.

AASU returns to action on Thursday, February 22, with a PBC doubleheader at Georgia Southwestern State, beginning at 5:30 p.m.

- Pirates -