FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 11-28-03

Men's College Basketball: AASU 73, Nova Southeastern 63

SAVANNAH, Ga. – The Armstrong Atlantic State men's basketball team improved to 5-0 with a 73-63 win over Nova Southeastern in the 2003 Neader Group Classic at McArthur Gymnasium in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Friday evening.

It is the first time the Pirates have recorded a 5-0 start since the 1991-92 season. Every Pirate player who got into the game scored and AASU improved to 8-1 all-time against the Knights (2-2).

The Pirates and the Knights played a nip-and-tuck first half and would have gone into halftime tied at 26-all, but sophomore Jerard Manning was fouled on a three-point attempt with 16 seconds remaining and drained all three free throws to give AASU the 29-26 lead at the break. Daryl Williams led 10 points at halftime on 5-of-8 shooting.

In the second half, the Pirates opened the lead to double digits, 52-41, on a Williams layup with 10:27 remaining and the Pirates hit 10-of-15 free throws in the final minutes to close out the win.

Williams led the way for AASU with 20 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field, while senior Jason Sanders chipped in 12 points and senior Brian Bain added 11 points. Nova Southeastern was led by Kluis Wimbush, who had 18 points on 7-of-19 shooting from the floor, including 4-of-11 three-pointers. Garth Campbell added 16 points and Calvin Jenkins chipped in 10.

AASU faces Eckerd College on Saturday afternoon at 5:00 p.m. in the final game of the 2003 Neader Group Classic.

-Pirates-