FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 11-25-06

Men's College Basketball: AASU 61, Florida Southern 58

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Armstrong Atlantic rallied from a 10-point deficit with 9:40 remaining in the second half to clip Florida Southern, 61-58, in non-conference men’s basketball action on Saturday at Alumni Arena.

The Pirates (3-0) shot just 31 percent in the first half in trailing the Mocs by five at halftime, 30-25, then watched that lead balloon to 10 with under 10 minutes remaining. AASU climbed back into the contest thanks to some timely defense as a steal by Tory Harris led to two three throws for the senior, then freshman Kevin Parker stole the in bounds pass from FSC’s Arnaldo Abreu and canned a three-pointer to cut the deficit to five.

 The deficit narrowed to just two points, 49-47, with 4:30 left when junior Jamaal Galloway canned a three-pointer off of an out-of-bounds play to put the Pirates up, 50-49, with four minutes left. Junior Nick Bloemhof then contributed with a three-pointer and two free throws off the bench to give the Pirates some breathing room in staying unbeaten on the season. Florida Southern (1-1) guard Dominic Girod made a three-pointer with 18 seconds left to cut the lead to three, but two Tory Harris free throws with five seconds left put the game out of reach.

Galloway finished the game with 11 points for the Pirates on 3-of-9 shooting from three-point range, while senior Bryan Taylor registered eight points and 12 rebounds before fouling out with nearly five minutes remaining. Florida Southern placed three players in double figures as Andrei Grant and Girod each collected 11 points, while Rion Rayfield chipped in 10.

AASU has had to come from behind in all three games this season and twice has had to rally from double-digit deficit. The Pirates, however, are 3-0 for the second straight season and third time in the last four years.

AASU returns to action on Monday, November 27, as the Pirates host Brewton-Parker at 7:30 p.m. at Alumni Arena.

- Pirates -