 Houston Power
Patriot Men tug at #8 Pacer reins but fall 86-74
FLORENCE, S.C. – Junior guard Jeremy Fears scored 26 points and dished out six assists to lead eighth-ranked USC Aiken past a pesky Francis Marion University squad 86-74, Wednesday evening (Jan. 9) in Peach Belt Conference men’s basketball action.
The Pacers (11-1, 5-0) remain atop the Peach Belt standings and snap an 11-game losing skid to FMU. Francis Marion (7-4, 1-3) fails in its second attempt at gaining the 500th win in the program’s 38-year history.
Junior guard Houston Power led Francis Marion with 22 points and six assists, while junior Ziyadah Carter added 12 and senior 6-10 center Carter Stiglbauer 11, coming off the Patriot bench.
Juniors Chris Commons and Cordaryl Ballard each tallied 17 points for USCA, while guard Kingsley Oguchi chipped in 15 points. Fears nailed 5-of-10 three-point attempts, while Oguchi hit 4-of-6 from beyond the stripe. Commons, the nation’s second-leading scorer at 24.5 points per game, hit only one of his first nine shots and finished the game 8-of-19 from the floor, although he did grab a team-high seven rebounds.
The Pacers jumped to a quick 17-8 lead thanks to a trio of triples by Fears. A Commons’ layup kept the margin at nine (21-12) before FMU rallied to tie the score at 24-24 on a dunk by Stiglbauer. A three-pointer by freshman David Turner gave FMU its largest advantage of the night at 30-26 with 7:43 left in the half, but USCA rallied and following another three-pointer by Fears, the Pacers went up 38-36. A layup by FMU sophomore guard Michael Laney with six ticks left sent the two squads into the locker room at halftime knotted at 38-38.
An 11-2 spurt to open the second stanza gave USCA the lead for good. The Patriots hung tough and trailed only 56-52 following a three-pointer by Laney with 13:23 remaining. The Pacers then ran off 10 straight points to lead 66-52.
A layup by Ballard produced a 74-60 Pacer advantage with 4:22 left, but the Patriots conjured up one final rally. Back-to-back, top-of-the-key three-pointers by Power trimmed the lead to 76-70 with 2:24 on the clock, but Commons scored on a jumper and a dunk to restore the margin to double figures.
The Pacers enjoyed a 15-5 advantage at the free throw line, as the Patriots had only six attempts.
FMU will play at UNC Pembroke next Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., while USCA entertains Georgia Southwestern State University on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
1-9-08 8 pm at Florence, SC (Smith University Center)
USC AIKEN 86, FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY 74
USC AIKEN (#8 11-1 , 5-0)
Fears, Jeremy 7-17 7-10 26; Ballard, Cordaryl 8-9 1-2 17; Commons, Chris
8-19 1-1 17; Oguchi, Kingsley 4-6 3-4 15; McMasters, Casey 2-4 0-0 4;
Casimir, Job 2-4 0-1 4; Leonard, Seth 0-1 1-2 1; Gadomski, Jakub 0-0 1-2 1;
Dongo, Jores 0-0 1-2 1; Flowers, Rashad 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-60 15-24 86.
FRANCIS MARION UNIVERSITY (7-4 , 1-3 PBC)
Power, Houston 9-13 2-3 22; Carter, Ziyadah 5-11 0-0 12; Stiglbauer, Carter
5-12 1-1 11; Laney, Michael 3-7 2-2 9; Turner, David 3-4 0-0 8; Smith, Sam
4-9 0-0 8; Boyd, Simel 2-4 0-0 4; Morley, Nate 0-1 0-0 0; Jones, Crayton 0-0
0-0 0; Baker, Cortne' 0-1 0-0 0; Clark, Kevin 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 31-63 5-6
74.
Halftime: USC Aiken 38 Francis Marion 38
3-point goals-USC Aiken 9-20 (Fears, Jeremy 5-10; Oguchi, Kingsley 4-6;
Commons, Chris 0-3; McMasters, Casey 0-1), Francis Marion University 7-27
(Turner, David 2-3; Carter, Ziyadah 2-8; Power, Houston 2-5; Laney, Michael
1-4; Morley, Nate 0-1; Baker, Cortne' 0-1; Clark, Kevin 0-1; Boyd, Simel
0-1; Smith, Sam 0-1; Stiglbauer, Carter 0-2). Fouled out--USC Aiken-None,
Francis Marion University-Clark, Kevin. Rebounds-USC Aiken 33 (Commons,
Chris 7), Francis Marion University 28 (Carter, Ziyadah 5). Assists-USC
Aiken 22 (Casimir, Job 7), Francis Marion University 19 (Power, Houston 6).
Total fouls-USC Aiken 11, Francis Marion University 25. A-1035
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