AASU Hosts 2008 Chatham Orthopedics Holiday Classic Friday and Saturday

SAVANNAH, Ga. - Armstrong Atlantic State University will host the 2008 Chatham Orthopedics Holiday Classic on Friday, December 19 and Saturday, December 20, featuring four games each day - two women’s contests and two men’s contests.

The men’s field features the Pirates (4-1) and CIAA foe St. Augustine's (4-4) facing off against Concordia College of Selma (4-10) and perennial participant Lenoir-Rhyne (4-3).

Lenoir-Rhyne and St. Augustine's will meet on Friday afternoon at 3:00 p.m., while the Pirates will face the Hornets of Concordia Selma for the first time in school history at 8:00 p.m. Saturday, Concordia Selma will play St. Augustine's at 3:00 p.m., while the Pirates will take on the Bears at 8:00 p.m. AASU and Lenoir-Rhyne have met in the Classic each year since 1998 and the Pirates own an 8-2 record over the Bears in those contests, including a 56-45 win last year.

The Pirates will be looking to erase the memory of its first loss of the season, a tough 73-68 loss to No. 3 USC Aiken on Dec. 6. AASU comes into the tournament as one of the top-scoring teams in the Peach Belt, averaging 89.4 points per game, and features four players averaging in double figures scoring - led by senior guard T.T. Hall (15.2 ppg). Concordia Selma will be playing its fifth game in an eight-day stretch on Friday as the Hornets are coming off of a 76-58 loss to Southern Poly in Atlanta just a day ago. St. Augustine's started the year out slowly, but the Falcons have picked up three straight wins, including a 73-57 CIAA victory over St. Paul's College on Tuesday evening. Lenoir-Rhyne halted its own three-game slide with an 83-64 win over Queens (N.C.) on December 8.

The women’s side of the tournament features the Lady Pirates (6-1) and fellow Peach Belt Conference school Columbus State (6-2) taking on a pair of teams that appear in the latest WBCA DII Top 25 poll - No. 25 Wingate (5-2) and preseason Gulf South Conference favorite Valdosta State (7-1), who is among teams receiving votes this week. Columbus State takes on Valdosta State at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, while host AASU will face Wingate at 6:00 p.m. Saturday, the action flips with Wingate taking on Columbus State at 1:00 p.m., then the Lady Pirates facing Valdosta State at 6:00 p.m.

Three-time PBC Player of the Week Lacey Willis leads the Lady Pirates, averaging a PBC-leading 21.0 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. She is the first Peach Belt player to earn three consecutive Player of the Week honors since 1993. Columbus State is winning with defense this season, allowing just 55.9 points per contest, while being led by the 1-2 scoring punch of Phebe Smith (15.8 ppg) and Rosetta Hollis (14.0 ppg). Wingate picked up an 84-77 win over Anderson on Wednesday thanks to freshman Stephanie Whitenack's career-high 18 points, while Valdosta State's Michelle Thompson leads the Lady Blazer attack, averaging 14.1 points per game.

Fans can follow along with all the action this weekend with live statistics of all the games and webcasts of the AASU contests at the official website of the 2008 Chatham Orthopedics Holiday Classic at http://aasupirates.com/sports/mbkb/2008-09/bk2008classic.