USC Aiken took a short trip to Augusta and earned a 95-85 win Wednesday, notching a regular season sweep over its rival after winning three weeks earlier at home. Junior Tehree Horn led the Pacers with 29 points, and sophomore Jalen McCoy added 28. Horn and McCoy each made 11 out of 16 field goal attempts as USC Aiken shot 56.1% from the field as a team.
Augusta was led by senior Miguel Arnold, who scored a career high 37 points. Arnold made 6 of his 10 three point attempts and all 9 of his free throws.
USC AIken broke open a tie game with a 14-2 run to end the first half with a 47-35 advantage. Freshman Jameel Rideout, who scored 14 points, capped the run by making a contested mid range jumper right before the buzzer.
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After falling behind by as many as 15 points, Augusta stormed back into the game midway through the second half. Arnold punctuated a 16-4 spurt for Augusta with a three pointer on an assist from Tyshaun Crawford that gave the Jaguars a 66-64 lead with 8:13 remaining.
But USC Aiken immediately answered with a 13-0 burst that only took the Pacers 125 seconds to complete. During the final six minutes Augusta would get no closer than 8 points from the Pacers.
USC Aiken improved to 18-7 overall and 11-4 in Peach Belt Conference action. Augusta fell to 20-5 and 11-4 in the conference. The rivals stand one game behind league leader North Georgia. With three regular season games remaining, every game counts in deciding the regular season champion, the prize for which will be the opportunity to host the Peach Belt Conference Tournament March 2-5.
USC Aiken will host Young Harris Saturday before traveling to Columbus State next Wednesday and then returning home to host North Georgia on Saturday, February 25.
Augusta will travel to Flagler Saturday and North Georgia Wednesday before finishing at home against Clayton State the following Saturday.
Follow Chad Cook’s coverage of local sports on Facebook and Instagram at @AugustaPressSports, and on Twitter at @AugPressSports.
