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Men's Basketball:
South Carolina Rallies to Defeat UC Irvine 67-65
Dec. 28, 2007
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Devan Downey scored nine points in the final two minutes to help lift South Carolina to a 67-65, non-conference victory over UC Irvine at the Colonial Center in Columbia Friday night. Downey scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half as the Gamecocks rallied from 13 points down in the final 16 minutes of the game. UCI senior center Darren Fells, who tied his career high with 20 points, scored on a spin move underneath with 16:22 remaining to put the Anteaters (4-8) up 44-31. South Carolina (7-5) then went on a 24-9 run to take its first lead of the second half at 55-53 on a jumper by Downey with 5:55 left. UCI junior guard Brett Lauer nailed a three-pointer from the left corner 17 seconds later to put the Anteaters back up 56-55. Chad Gray's basket at the 4:25 mark put the Gamecocks up 57-56, but UCI senior forward Patrick Sanders, who also had 20 points in the game, hit a jumper to put the `Eaters back on top 58-57 with 4:07 remaining. A pair of free throws by Lauer with 2:51 left gave UCI a 60-57 lead, but Downey's three at 2:19 tied the game to propel a 7-0 run by the Gamecocks for a 64-60 lead with 19 seconds remaining. Lauer canned another three to draw UCI with 64-63 with 14.1 seconds left before Downey hit a pair of free throws with 11.9 seconds remaining for a 66-63 lead. UCI's Michael Hunter missed a three and Lauer was forced to foul Dominique Archie, who hit 1 of 2 free throws with 4.7 seconds left. Hunter converted a layup just before the horn for the final score. Lauer added 12 points and a career-highs six rebounds for the Anteaters. Junior forward Kevin Bland scored just two points but had 11 rebounds, three steals and a career-high six assists. Archie scored a team-high 18 points and added seven boards for the Gamecocks. UCI, which led 36-29 at halftime, shot 34.6 percent from the field in the second half and 41 percent for the game. The Anteaters were just 5 of 22 from three-point range in the contest. South Carolina shot 48 percent from the field and hit 11 of 13 free throws in the second half. Friday night marked the first game UCI ever played in the state of South Carolina. The Anteaters, who are in the midst of five consecutive road games, face Harvard Sunday at 11:00 a.m. (PST) in Cambridge, Mass.
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