| Armstrong Atlantic State (22-5, 15-5) -- The
Armstrong Atlantic State men’s basketball squad won its final
two games of the 2008-09 regular season to wrap up the No. 3 seed
in the upcoming PBC Tournament, the third year out of the last four
in which the Pirates have had a No. 3 seed or higher in the league
tournament ... AASU went on the road and knocked off Francis
Marion, 77-66, in overtime ... Dwight Tolbert hit the game-tying
basket with five seconds left in regulation, then AASU knocked down
11 of 12 free throws in the extra period to come away with the win
... Tolbert finished the night with 24 points, while T.T. Hall
added 14 points and Brian Moultrie chipped in 12 ... The Pirates
then defeated Lander, 81-67, on Saturday ... Tolbert collected a
season-high 29 points, which included a 13-for-13 performance at
the free throw line, just one free throw shy of the single-game
record of 14-for-14, set by David Rich (1969) and David Koncul
(2000) ... AASU will face Francis Marion in PBC Quarterfinal action
on Friday at 5:00 p.m. Last year was the first time in 14 games
that the Pirates did not win their PBC Tournament opener ... AASU
has never won the PBC Tournament but has advanced to four title
games in program history.
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| Augusta State (23-4, 17-3) -- Augusta
State captured the Peach Belt Conference Championship with a 95-63
road win over Georgia Southwestern on Saturday, Feb. 28 …
The win gave ASU its second conference title in the last three
seasons … The Jaguars posted a 2-0 record last week while
extending their winning streak to a season-high nine games …
ASU finished the regular season at 23-4 overall and 17-3 in the
conference … The Jags’ 23 regular-season wins were the
second-most in regular-season history and the most since the
1969-70 season … ASU’s 85-70 victory over Columbus
State on Wednesday, Feb. 25 extended its Peach Belt Conference home
winning streak to 15 games, dating back to last season … The
Jags moved up one spot in the national rankings last week,
improving to No. 5 in the latest NABC Coaches Poll on Tuesday, Feb.
24 … The ranking marked the 33rd consecutive national poll
in which ASU has appeared in the top 25 … The Jags have now
appeared in the top 10 in 15 of the last 16 national polls ...They
remained on top in the fifth NCAA Southeast Region poll of the
regular season, released on Wednesday, Feb. 25, and were one of
four Peach Belt Conference teams to appear in the region rankings
… ASU was ranked first in the initial Southeast Region poll
on Wednesday, Jan. 28 … With ASU’s 59-55 win at
Armstrong Atlantic State on Saturday, Feb. 14, the Jaguars improved
to 15-9 all-time against nationally-ranked opponents under head
coach Dip Metress … With a 107-100 double-overtime win at
North Georgia on Jan. 17, ASU improved to 6-2 in overtime under
head coach Dip Metress … The 107 points scored were the most
by the Jags since a 115-47 victory over Carver on Nov. 21, 2004, a
span of 135 games … On Tuesday, Dec. 9, the Jags moved up to
No. 3 in the nation in the NABC poll, the highest national ranking
in school history … Since the beginning of the 2006-07
season, the Jags are 74-18 overall (.804), 48-8 (.857) in the Peach
Belt Conference, 37-4 (.902) at home and 22-3 (.880) on
Saturday’s in conference play … With 14 points at
Georgia Southwestern, junior guard Ben Madgen moved into 110h place
on the Peach Belt Conference’s career scoring list and
remained in eighth place on the ASU career scoring list with 1,516
points … With 24 points at Georgia Southwestern, senior
center Garret Siler remained in ninth place on the career scoring
list with 1,473 points and moved into 13th place on the PBC career
scoring charts … Since the beginning of the 2006-07 season,
ASU is the winningest team in the state of Georgia at 74-18 (.804)
among all Division I and Division II teams … In fact, the
Jags are the only program in the state with 20 or more wins in each
of the last three seasons … ASU has posted more than wins
than any other team in the state in each of the last two seasons
… ASU’s 74 wins over the last three seasons are the
most in school history over a three-year span in school
history.
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| Clayton State (14-13, 7-13) -- The
Clayton State Lakers closed out the regular season on an up note,
winning two of their final three games... Clayton State dropped a
tough 58-53 decision on Wednesday against 11th-ranked USC Aiken.
The Lakers could not overcome 17 second-half points for Pacer
center Josh Dollard as the Pacers rallied late. Ricky Garrett
scored 13 points to pace Clayton State, while Jaquas Dobbs scored
11 points and Brian Kelly added 10 points... The Lakers celebrated
Senior Day with an impressive 66-55 victory at home over Francis
Marion on Saturday. The Lakers clamped down on Francis Marion
defensively, allowing the Patriots only 33 percent shooting from
the field and only 31 percent from 3-point range. Garrett and Kelly
each scored 14 points for the Lakers in their final games at the
Athletics and Fitness Center. Dobbs scored nine points and Tre Goss
and Eric Wilson each added eight points... Saturday’s victory
over Francis Marion was a milestone for Laker head coach Gordon
Gibbons - it was the 400th victory of his illustrious Division II
career. He is now 400-150 all-time with a .728 winning percentage -
154-85 in his eighth season at Clayton State and 246-65 in 10
previous seasons at Florida Southern... Kelly is now fifth all-time
in rebounding at Clayton State with 470, and sixth all-time in
offensive rebounding with 173... The Lakers lead the Peach Belt
Conference in scoring defense and they are ranked second in 3-point
percentage defense... Clayton State will be the seventh seeded team
in the upcoming Peach Belt Conference Tournament this week at USC
Aiken. The Lakers will play Georgia Southwestern in the first round
on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
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| Columbus State (8-18, 6-14) -- CSU heads
into this week’s PBC Tournament on a six-game losing
streak...Lost on the road last Wednesday to #5 Augusta State 85-70;
Sean Miller had 21 points, Chris Telesford had 13 points, and Owen
Brow added 11 points off the bench...Homecoming activities on
Saturday ended with a 102-92 loss to UNC Pembroke; Javarus Stewart
had a team-high 25 points on 9-18 FG; Miller had 18 points, Owen
Brow had 15 points, and Nick Gagnon had 11 points and five
rebounds; CSU went 14-40 from beyond the arc...Miller set the
record for most games played in a career in the UNCP contest...CSU
is the #9 seed in the PBC Tournament; Takes on #8 Lander in
Wednesday’s opening round at 5 PM from USCA’s
Convocation Center...CSU and Lander split with each team winning on
the road.
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| Francis Marion (16-11, 9-11) --FMU went
0-2 last week, with an overtime loss to AASU and a road loss at
Clayton State. The Patriots finish tied for fifth place in the
conference standings.....At 16-11, the Patriots have surpassed last
year’s win total (12-16 mark) and guaranteed their first
winning record since 2003-04 and only the second winning mark this
decade.....Going back to last season, FMU is on a 20-14
run.....This is the first time since the PBC was formed that FMU
has beaten two nationally ranked opponents in one season.....Senior
F Kevin Clark averaged 15.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game last
week, while sophomore F David Turner added 10.5 ppg last week
coming off the Patriot bench.....Clark has his eighth double-double
of the year, (21 pts/10 reb) vs AASU....Senior G Houston Power
scored a season-high 16 points vs AASU in his final home
game....Twelve times last season FMU made single digit free throws
in a game. This year, it has happened only seven times (all losses)
and FMU is averaging 14.1 made charity tosses per
contest.…..10 of the 11 Patriots have scored in double
figures at least once this season.....The Patriots have
outrebounded 125 of their last 195 opponents, including 18 of 27
this year (2-7 record when not). Only 58 of FMU’s last 194
opponents have shot above 46 percent from the floor.....For the
season, senior PG Crayton Jones has 115 assists and 45 steals and
only 72 turnovers through 27 games....FMU plays AASU in the PBC
Tournament Quarterfinals on March 6 at 5 p.m. The squads split two
games during the regular season. FMU is 4-15 all-time at the PBC
Tournament, with eight straight losses dating back to 1999.
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| Georgia College & State University (21-5,
15-5) -- Ranked #4 in region ... The Bobcats finished out
the season in style, beating UNC Pembroke 80-78 on the road
Wednesday, and upending #11 USC Aiken 73-72 in overtime Saturday
... The win at the Pacers came in GCSU’s first overtime game
of the 2008-09 season; The most recent overtime contest was Feb. 7,
2007, a loss at Columbus State University; The most recent overtime
win was Feb. 1, 2006 at USC Aiken ... Georgia College now has 21
wins this season, tying for the eighth-most victories in school
history ... The Bobcats have now beaten the Pacers twice this
season, and have 4 wins against nationally-ranked competition this
year ... Shaun Keaton now has 1,307 points in his career, just one
point away from sixth place and William Northcut (1985-89) ...
Shaun Keaton made four free-throws at USCA, passing Georgia College
Athletics Hall of Famer Robert Williams (1973-77) into fourth in
school history with 289 ... Senior Ken Kemp has 452 rebounds in his
career, ranking ninth, 17 behind Julius Wilcox (1984-88) and eighth
place for Georgia College history ... The Bobcats head to the PBC
Tournament Friday against North Georgia, GCSU made it to the
semifinal round a year ago, losing to tournament champion Clayton
St.
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| Georgia Southwestern (10-17, 6-14) --
The Hurricanes, 0-1 last week, wrapped up the regular season with a
95-63 loss at home to Augusta State on Saturday...Chris Rawls led
the ‘Canes with 15 points and six rebounds; Damayrius Adside
finished with 13 points and Anthony Sargent, playing in his final
game at the Storm Dome, added 12…Rick Russell and Sargent
played in their final regular season collegiate game for
GSW...Sargent, averaging 19.0 ppg in his career, is 33 points shy
of 1000 as a Hurricane. Sargent currently ranks fifth in the PBC
averaging 16.0 ppg in ‘08-09 and Rawls is ninth with 14.2
ppg…Rawls ranks third in the conference with 7.7 rpg and
fourth in field goal percentage at .578… Southwestern, the
#10 seed, plays Clayton State on Wednesday in the first round of
the Peach Belt tournament.
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| Lander (11-15, 7-13) -- The Bearcats
enter the Peach Belt Conference tournament on a four-game losing
streak after dropping road Peach Belt Conference games to North
Georgia (66-55) and Armstrong Atlantic (81-67) last week. Lander
enters the tournament as the No. 8 seed and will face No. 9
Columbus State in the first round. The Bearcats split with Columbus
State during the regular season, winning on the road, 86-77, and
losing at home, 76-54. Lander trails 26-12 in its all-time series
against Columbus State, but holds a 4-3 edge against the Cougars in
the Peach Belt Conference tournament. Lander defeated Columbus
State in both the 1993 and 1994 PBC tournament championship games,
earning back-to-back berths into the NCAA tournament. The Bearcats
are led by senior Houston Wright, who is averaging 13.1 points per
game, while Brenton Harris is grabbing a team-high 6.6 rebounds per
game.
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| UNC Pembroke (6-21, 3-17) -- A late
3-pointer by Georgia College, as well as a last second block under
the rim, spelled a two-point loss for UNCP to the visiting Bobcats
on Wednesday evening, but the Braves rebounded on the road on
Saturday, shooting better than 57 percent from the floor in turning
in a 102-92 victory over Columbus State. The triumph snapped an
overall 11-game losing streak, as well as a 12-game series skid to
the Bobcats. The point total marked the first time in 11 seasons
that the Braves have eclipsed the century mark and only the third
time since UNCP joined the NCAA Division II ranks that a Black and
Gold squad has accomplished that feat. The win also marked the only
time in the modern day history of the UNCP men’s basketball
season that the Braves have ended their season with a victory, as
UNCP will not be participating in the postseason PBC Tournament.
Four Braves - Cortez Brown, Demarcus Lyday, David Moore and John
Walters - played their final games in the Black and Gold last week,
with Brown making the most noise in his final week in a UNCP
uniform, averaging 24.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per
game, including a career-best 29 points against Columbus State.
UNCP head coach Ben Miller concluded his first season at the helm
of the Braves, as well as his first as a collegiate head coach,
with a 6-21 mark. UNCP will return just two starters for the
2009-10 campaign, but will also bring back 10 letterwinners and
eight redshirted players for Miller’s second campaign in
Pembroke.
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| North Georgia (15-11, 9-11) -- The
Saints won their only game last week, using a second-half rally to
defeat Lander University 66-55 on Senior Day in Memorial Hall.
North Georgia put four players in double figures, with Anthony Rowe
leading the way with 16 points, while LaBrian Lyons added 13 and
Michael Moynihan and Brody Langston tallied 11 apiece. North
Georgia shot 43.5 percent from the floor and just 20 percent from
behind the arc, while Lander was 30.9 percent from the field and
27.8 percent from long range. The two teams combined to turn the
ball over just 16 times, while the Saints held a 41-34 rebounding
advantage. North Georgia enters the Peach Belt Conference
Tournament as the #5 seed as they will take on 4th seed and
25th-ranked GCSU in the quarterfinal round on Friday afternoon. The
Saints are 1-1 in PBC Tournament history, making their debut last
season and defeating Armstrong Atlantic before coming up short in
the semifinals against USC Aiken. North Georgia dropped two games
to the Bobcats this season, falling at home 65-64 when a buzzer
beater came up short, and falling by eight points on the road.
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| USC Aiken (21-6, 16-4) -- The
11th-ranked USC Aiken Pacers fell 73-72 in overtime to Georgia
College & State on Saturday evening at the Convocation Center
to end their hopes of claiming their second straight PBC regular
season crown …
Pacer All-American Chris
Commons (Toledo, Ohio/Findlay) had a chance to win the game for USC
Aiken in the final seconds of overtime, but his three-point attempt
hit the front rim and the Pacers were not able to tip it back in to
give the Bobcats the heartbreaking one-point win … The loss
ends an amazing 27-game regular season home winning streak for the
Pacers … USC Aiken had entered the game 27-0 during the
regular inside the Convocation Center since the facility opened its
doors prior to the 2007-08 season … The Pacers were 19-0
against PBC teams during the stretch … The Pacers have now
lost just twice in the building with both of their losses inside
the friendly confines of the Convocation Center coming in overtime
… USC Aiken’s first ever loss in the Convocation
Center was during the 2008 Peach Belt Conference Championship game
… The Pacers dropped a three-overtime game to the Lakers
… The Pacers will enter this year’s Peach Belt
Conference Tournament at the Convocation Center as the second seed
in the event … The Pacers will play the winner of the #7
Clayton State-#10 Georgia Southwestern game at 7 p.m. on Friday,
March 6 … USC Aiken with a win on Saturday over GCSU would
have tied rival Augusta State for regular season championship
supremacy in the league … The two straight 20-win seasons
obtained by USC Aiken over the last two years marks the first two
straight 20-win seasons in program history in almost 20 years
… The Pacers 48 wins over the past two years is already a
school record … The Pacers opened last week by defeating
Clayton State 58-53 in Morrow, Ga. … Josh Dollard obtained
his fourth straight double-double in the game … Dollard led
the Pacers with 26 in the loss to GCSU … He just missed out
on five consecutive double-doubles with eight boards …
Dollard’s two performances help the reigning PBC Player of
the Week average 24 points and 10.5 rebounds per game ... Dollard
averaged a double-double though in the last five games of the year
for USC Aiken with him scoring at a 20.4 points per game clip,
while also obtaining 11.6 rebounds per game.
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