No. 14 Pacers Halt No. 12 AASU's Five-Game Win Streak

AIKEN, S.C. - The No. 14-ranked USC Aiken men's basketball team built a late 11-point lead in the second half and held on for a 81-76 Peach Belt Conference victory over No. 12-ranked Armstrong Atlantic State on Saturday evening in Aiken, S.C.

The Pacers (14-4, 9-2 PBC) swept the season series from the Pirates (15-3, 8-3 PBC) and remain tied for first place in the PBC standings with No. 24 GCSU, who knocked off No. 7 Augusta State on Saturday afternoon. The Pirates and the Jaguars are now tied for third, one game behind the co-leaders.

Armstrong Atlantic State led early against the Pacers, scoring eight of the first 10 points of the game, but USC Aiken used a 25-10 run to take charge of the contest late in the first half. The Pirates battled back to cut the lead to two at halftime, 35-33, then took the lead on a three-pointer by Dwight Tolbert early in the second half, making the score 43-41 with 17:34 remaining.

The Pacers retook the lead for good on two free throws from Javonte Clanton with 7:01 remaining, then built that lead to 11, 74-63, on two more Clanton free throws with 1:44 left. The Pirates to back to within four on two T.T. Hall free throws with 26 seconds left, but missed two three-point attempts in the final seconds that could have cut the game to one possession.

Brian Moultrie led all scorers on the night for the Pirates with 22 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor and 10-of-13 shooting from the free throw line. Hall and Tolbert each added 19 points as well for AASU.

USC Aiken was led by Kingsley Oguchi's 20 points and eight rebounds, while Clanton finished the night with 18 points - including 11-of-14 from the free throw line. USC Aiken enjoyed a huge edge from the charity stripe, making 30-of-41 free throws (73.2 percent) compared to just 15-of-23 for AASU (65.2 percent).

The Pirates, who saw their five game win streak snapped, return to action on Monday evening with a 7:30 p.m. Peach Belt Conference contest against Francis Marion at Alumni Arena.