Men's Basketball: AASU 62, North Florida 48; Women's Basketball: No. 24 AASU 78, North Florida 68

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 2-19-03

Men's College Basketball: AASU 62, North Florida 48
Women's College Basketball: No. 24 AASU 78, North Florida 68

SAVANNAH, Ga. – The Armstrong Atlantic State men's basketball team scored the final 14 points of the game to come away with a 62-48 Peach Belt Conference victory over North Florida at Alumni Arena on Wednesday evening, giving the Pirates a doubleheader sweep of the Ospreys. Earlier, the No. 24-ranked Lady Pirates won their school-record 13^th straight home contest in knocking off the Lady Ospreys, 78-68.

The Pirates (10-13, 9-7 PBC) led by eight at halftime, 30-22, and extended their lead to 11, 48-37, with 8:08 remaining in the contest. North Florida (11-13, 8-8 PBC) would then score the next 11 points to tie the contest at 48-all, with 4:31 left in the contest. UNF would go cold from the field after that, missing their final eight shots from the floor as the Pirates closed out the game on a 14-0 run, making 10-of-10 free throws to seal the victory. It was the Pirates' first back-to-back victories in a month - AASU's last two straight wins came on Jan. 13 and 15 over UNC Pembroke and USC Aiken.

Senior Dave Pisarcik led all scorers with 20 points, including going 12-of-14 from the free throw line, while junior Brian Bain added 12 points. The Pirates shot 51.2 percent from the floor in the contest and hit over 50 percent in both halves for just the third time this season. Donny Lotz led the Ospreys with 13 points, while Derrick Scott added 10 points.

In the women's contest, the No. 24-ranked Lady Pirates (21-3, 14-2 PBC) jumped out to a 33-25 lead with two minutes remaining in the first half, but North Florida (14-10, 9-7 PBC) would end the half on a 10-2 run to draw to a 35-all tie with AASU.

In the second half, would jump out again, this time taking a 64-56 lead with 7:32 remaining on two Tasha Washington free throws, but UNF would cut the AASU lead to two, 66-64, with 4:58 left. The Lady Pirates would take charge, ending the game on an 11-4 run to come away with their 21^st victory of the season, tying a school record. AASU also won 21 games in 1984-85.

Washington led the Lady Pirates with 28 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the floor and 11-of-13 shooting from the free throw line. Junior Tishay Lewis added 15 points and senior Zandrique Cason chipped in 10 points. Skye Barber led North Florida with a game-high 30 points - one off the UNF single-game scoring record - and added 11 rebounds. Mikel Taylor added 15 points for the Lady Ospreys. It was AASU's first season sweep of UNF in women's basketball in school history.

The AASU men's and women's teams are next in action on Saturday, February 22 as they host nationally-ranked Columbus State for a Peach Belt Conference doubleheader beginning at 2:00 p.m. with the women's contest.

- Pirates -