Sarah Olin, Sports Editor
USC Aiken Pacers down Armstrong Pirates 96-82 in the Peach Belt Conference match at Alumni Arena Wednesday night.
The Pacer’s senior Christian Nobles started hot with three straight three-pointers, followed by junior Austin Grimes’ pair of threes to take the lead by ten. Though the Pirates fought hard, taking the lead at 36-35 with under five minutes left in the first half, USC Aiken came back with a powerful finish to take the lead 48-40 to head into the break.
Armstrong freshman Corey Tillery cut the Pacer’s lead from 84-68 to seven by draining three straight three-pointers with 2:21 remaining in the second half. USC Aiken sealed the win by making 7 of 8 free throws in the final minutes of the game.
The men’s team came back from the loss with a victory over host Lander University on Saturday, defeating the Bearcats 87-81.
Lander started strong, taking the lead at 33-26 with five minutes left in the first half, until the Pirates came back with a 15-2 run to take the advantage 41-38 heading into the locker room. Freshman Kalen Clifton shot 6 of 8 from the floor to lead the Pirates at the end of the half.
Tiller stole the show in the second half, draining all of six free throws and 6 of 8 three pointers to reach his season high of 34 points, allowing the Pirates to take the win and end a six-game slump.
The Armstrong Pirates men’s basketball team will be back in action on Wednesday at 7:30pm to take on Augusta at the Alumni Arena.
