FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2-12-01

This Week In Armstrong Atlantic State Athletics

Monday, February 12
No Events Scheduled

Tuesday, February 13
No Events Scheduled

Wednesday, February 14
• Women's Tennis at Columbus State, 1:00 p.m.
• Men's Tennis at Columbus State, 1:00 p.m.
• Women's Basketball vs. Clayton College & State, 5:30 p.m.
• Men's Basketball vs. Clayton College & State, 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, February 15
No Events Scheduled

Friday, February 16
No Events Scheduled

Saturday, February 17

• Women's Tennis at Kennesaw State, 10:00 a.m.
• Baseball vs. Lander, 2:00 p.m.
• Women's Basketball at USC Spartanburg, 2:00 p.m.
• Women's Tennis at Clayton College & State, 3:00 p.m.
• Men's Basketball at USC Spartanburg, 4:00 p.m.

Sunday, February 18
• Baseball vs. Lander (DH), Noon
• Women's Tennis vs. USC Aiken, 1:00 p.m.
• Men's Tennis vs. USC Aiken, 1:00 p.m.

Men's Basketball (20-5 Overall, 12-0 PBC, No. 24 NABC/DII Bulletin Top 25, No. 4 Region)

The Armstrong Atlantic State men's basketball team set a school record with its 12th consecutive win on Monday against Georgia College & State, then kept the win streak alive on Saturday with an emotional come-from-behind win over USC Aiken for Homecoming on Saturday.

The Pirates trailed Georgia College & State in the closing minutes on Monday but two consecutive steals and free throws by Donta Humphries and Mick Jordan put the Pirates up by one, 67-66, and GC&SU missed two shots in the final 16 seconds to give AASU its school-record 12th consecutive win. Greg Favors recorded his sixth double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Cyrille Mainnemarre added 12 points.

Saturday, the Pirates trailed USC Aiken by 10, 60-50, with 2:58 remaining but put together a spectacular comeback to tie the game at 63-all with 11 seconds remaining. Mick Jordan drew an offensive foul on the Pacers' Dain Brown to give the ball back to AASU, and Robert Campbell hit a three-pointer with 0.8 seconds left for the victory. Campbell scored a game-high 20 points on the evening and recorded four steals, giving the Hinesville native 334 career thefts, second-most in NCAA Division II history.

With the two wins, AASU cracked the NABC/DII Bulletin Top 25 rankings on Monday at No. 24, the first time the AASU men's basketball team has been nationally ranked since the 1983-84 season. Senior guard Robert Campbell was also named the PBC Player of the Week for the second time this season by the conference office.

This week, coach Mills' squad hosts Clayton College & State on Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m., then travels to USC Spartanburg on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 4:00 p.m.

Women's Basketball (8-14 Overall, 3-9 PBC)

Coach Hodge's Lady Pirates dropped two games on the week, losing to Georgia College & State on Monday, then dropped a one point to North Division-leading USC Aiken on Saturday.

On Monday, GC&SU won its 12th straight over AASU with an 83-67 victory. Beth Heyer scored a career-high 27 points on the evening to lead the Bobcats while AASU was led by sophomore Zandrique Cason's 18 points. GC&SU opened the game on a 16-2 run, but the Lady Pirates closed the gap to six at halftime, 36-30. In the second half it was all Lady Bobcats, however, as GC&SU shot 53 percent from the floor and held the Lady Pirates to just 25 percent shooting

In Saturday's game, the Lady Pirates had the ball with 16 seconds remaining and down, 61-60, but Lexie Martin's interior pass to Zandrique Cason went awry and the USC Aiken Lady Pacers held on for the one-point victory. AASU led by six at halftime, 35-29, but a 12-3 run by USC Aiken erased the AASU lead and put the Lady Pacers up by four, 55-51, with 6:55 left. USC Aiken would hold onto the lead and were up by four, 61-57, until Nicole Joffrion's three-pointer with 1:45 left cut the score to one. Neither team scored in the final 1:45.

Junior guard Lexie Martin led the Lady Pirates with 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor, including 3-of-4 from three-point range.

The Lady Pirates host Clayton College & State on Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m., then travel to USC Spartanburg on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 2:00 p.m.

Baseball (8-1 Overall, 3-0 PBC, T-No. 20 NCAA Division II Coaches' Poll)

Head coach Joe Roberts' baseball squad opened the Peach Belt Conference season with a three-game sweep of Augusta State over the weekend, winning the first game, 7-6, on Saturday, then sweeping a doubleheader, 6-3 and 5-4, on Sunday.

Junior catcher Pat Daly's one-out double in the bottom of the ninth scored junior David Harriman with the winning run in Saturday's 7-6 win over the Jaguars. Freshman Ryan Chromek led the way for the Pirates by going 4-for-4 with three RBI, while Matt Easterwood picked up three hits for AASU.

Kirk Nordness' RBI triple in the bottom of the fifth inning snapped a 3-all tie in the second game on Sunday and propelled the Pirates to a 5-4 win and a doubleheader sweep of the Jaguars. AASU won the first game, 6-3, by scoring three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to snap another 3-all tie.

Freshman Zach Shelnutt hurled three shutout innings, giving up just one hit, to pick up his first collegiate victory for the Pirates in the first game and Nordness and Matt Easterwood led the Pirates offensively in game one with two hits apiece. In the second game, starter Adam Olejniczak picked up his first win of the season, giving up four runs, three earned, and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings, striking out four. Justin Worrell retired the last two hitters of the game for his first save of the season and freshman Chris Dentler led the Pirates offensively by going 4-for-4 with two runs.

AASU returns to action on Sat., Feb. 17 as it hosts Lander in a Peach Belt Conference series with a single game at 2:00 p.m. The two teams then play a doubleheader on Sun., Feb. 18 at Noon.

Men's and Women's Tennis (Women: 1-0, 1-0 PBC; Men: 1-0, 1-0 PBC, No. 7 DII)

The AASU men's and women's tennis teams begin a busy week of Peach Belt Conference competition this week. Both squads travel to Columbus State on Wed., Feb. 14 for a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader with the Cougars.

The AASU women then head to the Atlanta area for matches at Kennesaw State and Clayton College & State on Sat., Feb. 17, then return home for a men's and women's doubleheader against USC Aiken on Sun., Feb. 18 at 1:00 p.m.

Last season the Pirate tennis teams became the first in the conference to finish the regular season undefeated in both the men's and women's standings. The Pirate women have won 54 consecutive regular season Peach Belt Conference matches dating back to the 1994 season.

- Pirates -