Men's Basketball: AASU 81, GC&SU 67; Women's Basketball: No. 18 AASU 76, GC&SU 53

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - 2-26-03

Men's College Basketball: AASU 81, GC&SU 67
Women's College Basketball: No. 18 AASU 76, GC&SU 53

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Armstrong Atlantic State made senior night a successful one on Wednesday evening as the Pirate basketball teams sent away their respective seniors with a Peach Belt Conference doubleheader sweep of visiting Georgia College & State University at Alumni Arena. The men picked up their fourth win in a row with the 81-67 victory over the Bobcats, while the No. 18-ranked women won their school-record 10^th straight contest, 76-53, over the Lady Bobcats.

The Pirates (12-13, 11-7 PBC) hit five-of-seven three-pointers to jump out to a 42-30 halftime lead over the Bobcats (13-11, 10-8 PBC), while holding GC&SU - the second-leading three-point shooting team in the league - to just 1-of-10 from long distance before intermission. The Bobcats stayed in the game, mostly through the efforts of Daryl Ruffus, who recorded 24 points and 13 rebounds in the game, and cut the AASU lead to six, 66-60, on a Ruffus layup with 4:52 remaining in the contest. But junior Tim Brewer canned a three-pointer a minute later to put the Pirates back up by nine, 69-60, and AASU never looked back to race home with the victory. The win locks up the No. 3 seed in the PBC's South Division for the Pirates, meaning AASU will face UNC Pembroke in the first round of the PBC Tournament on Wednesday, March 5, in Columbus, Ga.

The Pirates' five starters scored all of AASU's 81 points in the game, led by junior Brian Bain's 28 points and 12 rebounds, and senior Dave Pisarcik's 18 points. Pisarcik and Ian Jones - who had 10 points - were playing in their final home games as members of AASU. Rodney Keener added 17 points for the Bobcats.

In the women's contest, the No. 18-ranked Lady Pirates (23-3, 16-2 PBC) went on a 29-10 run to open the second half and blow past the Lady Bobcats (12-14, 6-12 PBC) for their school record-setting 10^th consecutive win. The victory also gave the Lady Pirates their first-ever undefeated home season as AASU went 13-0 at Alumni Arena in 2002-03.

Four Lady Pirates scored in double figures, led by senior Zandrique Cason, who scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in her final home game as a Lady Pirate. Junior Tishay Lewis added 16 points and senior Anita Griffin scored a season-high 13 points for AASU. Andrea Lee scored 17 points to lead the Lady Bobcats, while Amanda Lomax added 11 points off the bench for GC&SU.

Cason, Griffin and twins Shanetra and Shaletra Hodge each played in their final home game at AASU on Wednesday as the Lady Pirates inched closer to their first-ever PBC Championship. A win on Saturday at Kennesaw State will give the Lady Pirates at least a share of their first-ever league title and the No. 1 seed for the upcoming PBC Championships.

AASU visits Kennesaw State on Saturday, March 1, for its final regular season games, beginning at 2:00 p.m. with the women and continuing at 4:00 p.m. with the men.

- Pirates -