MONTEVALLO, Ala. – In a rematch of last season's Peach Belt Conference Championship Game, the University of Montevallo men's basketball team beat the USC Aiken Pacers, 73-59.
To open up the game, the Falcons went on an 8-0 run, highlighted by two Troran Brown three-pointers that forced a Pacer timeout just over a minute into the game.
Battling back, USC Aiken was able to overcome the initial surge of the home team and eventually took the lead with 11:59 remaining the first half, 17-16.
The Pacers, however, would be stuck at 17 points for the next 8:25.
During the time where the visitors were held scoreless, the Falcons went on a 15-0 run and were on top 31-17.
At the half, Montevallo sustained their double digit advantage and went to the locker room up 35-24.
In the second half, the scoreless draught in the opening period would prove to be too much to come back from for the Pacers, and they would drop to 4-5 in the Peach Belt Conference with a 73-59 loss to the rival Falcons.
Brown had a game-high 24 points for the Falcons, shooting 62.5% from the floor. The senior, Phoenix, Arizona native also grabbed six rebounds.
Junior Ibrahim Johnson came off the bench and made a serious impact. Johnson had the second most points in the game, scoring 14 points and shooting 83.3% from the field. He also was tied for the team-high for rebounds, grabbing eight boards.
Senior Larry Slaughter also had eight rebounds, adding to his Peach Belt leading total. Slaughter was two points and two rebounds shy of getting his seventh double-double of the year, scoring eight points.
Senior Shykeem Jackson had 13 points and seven rebounds in a game-high 38 minutes. Jackson has played the most minutes of anybody in the Peach Belt Conference.
Junior Malik Fields chipped in eight points and had six rebounds. He shot 75% from the floor and made both of his free throw attempts.
As a team, the Falcons outrebounded the Pacers 41-32.
Montevallo also shot 54.7% from the field, while holding USC Aiken to just 35.1%.
The Falcons (12-7, 8-1) will next be in action this Saturday, January 24. They will travel to Milledgeville to take on Georgia College for the second time this season.
In the first meeting between the two teams, Montevallo walked away victorious, 87-74.
Tip-off for that game is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CST.
