Box Score
by Kevin Buczek
AIKEN, S.C.-Thirty-eight combined points by All-Regional selections Gerald Boston and Keith Manley were not enough in third-seeded Barton College's upset bid of top-seeded host and No. 20 nationally ranked USC Aiken in the championship game of the 2013 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional on Tuesday night at the Convocation Center.
The 82-75 victory advances the Pacers to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history. USCA will travel to Freedom Hall in Louisville, Ky. The Pacers will face Midwest Region champion Drury University in the Elite Eight at 8 p.m. on Thursday, March 28.
"I want to congratulate USC Aiken," said Barton 17th year head coach Ron Lievense. "I think they are a tremendous basketball team. Coach Alexander does a super job with his team. They have tremendous guard and post play and are very difficult to play against because they don't have a weakness out on the floor. I was impressed with their hustle and their heart. Hats off to USC Aiken."
Barton advanced to the "Sweet 16" for a third time in program history and finished its stellar season at 23-8. The Bulldogs have a 13-6 record in seven total NCAA Tournament appearances including each of the last two seasons under Coach Lievense.
"I thought our guys battled and threw their hearts and soul out there," added Lievense. "Our seniors were part of a great two year run for our program. They played their heart out against a tremendous basketball team on their home floor."
The Bulldogs trailed by 11 points heading into the final two minutes before making one incredible comeback effort that nearly stunned the crowd over 2,000 fans. Freshman Chris Flemmings made his only three-pointer of the game to start the run at the 1:40 mark. After a defensive stop, Manley then swished an unlikely three-pointer in the right corner with 50 ticks remaining to cut the deficit to five at 78-73 on an assist by Flemmings. It was Manley's first and only 3-pointer attempted all season. A couple seconds later, senior Aaron Brown made a steal at midcourt that led to Boston pulling up for a long 20-foot jumper on the fast break that pulled Barton to within one possession at 78-75 with 41 seconds left.
With about a six second difference between shot clock and time remaining, Barton decided to take a chance a stopping USCA without fouling to set up a last second shot to tie the game. The Pacers were able to wind the shot clock inside 10 seconds when Jesse Seilern kicked out a pass to three-point sharpshooter Ronald Zimmerman, who then buried the clutch trey from the right key. The Bulldogs had to force the issue and a turnover led to a Re'mon Nelson made free throw that made the final margin seven points.
Zimmerman, who leads DII in made 3-pointers per game, was 8-for-10 from beyond the arc to account for all 24 of his game-high points. Zimmerman joined Boston and Manley on the All-Regional Team for his performance.
"Tonight they hit some huge shots, some big threes," stated Lievense.
Boston led the Bulldogs with 23 points and nine assists. Boston, who averaged 29 points and 6.3 assists in three regional games, finished his collegiate career as Barton's NCAA Division II era All-Time scorer with 1,982 career points.
Re'mon Nelson was named Regional Most Outstanding Player. Nelson had 13 points, nine rebounds and three steals.
The Pacers started out shooting poorly against a tough Barton defense, missing seven of their first nine shots to put them at a ten-point deficit, 17-7, at the second media timeout. A floater by Boston capped the opening run that put the Bulldogs up by 10 points. Boston scored 11 of Barton's first 17 points.
USC Aiken was able to turn it around by making nine of their next 12 shots to tie the game at 35-all at the final media timeout with 3:37 left in the first half. The tie came from a trey by Nelson with 3:54 left in the half.
Junior Favian Beard made a late layup on a nice dime by Boston to put the Bulldogs up one but Zimmerman fired his fourth made 3-pointer of the first half in the closing seconds to put the hosts up two, 39-37, at halftime.
Boston was the only player in double figures in the first half, scoring 14 points. Zimmerman led the Pacers at the break with nine points, and Nelson had seven points and five assists.
"I thought their comeback in the first half was tremendous," stated Lievense. "I felt like in the first half we shot ourselves in the foot a couple times by stepping on the sideline, not moving well, throwing the ball away and letting them back in the game."
The game was tight throughout with nine ties and six lead changes in the contest but the Pacers never trailed in the second half. Manley tied the score up twice early in the second period on two layups but USCA pushed back ahead with a 14-6 run. The Bulldogs raced back with a 10-2 rally that included three-pointers by junior Brian McNair and Boston. Senior Jon Hart finished off the rally with a steal and fast break layup that tied the game for the ninth time at 57-57.
USC Aiken answered with a 10-2 run over the next almost three minutes to take a 67-59 lead with 7:03 left to play in the contest. Zimmerman hit the go-ahead 3-pointer at the 9:42 mark and Santoine Butler scored six of the 10 points in the outburst. Zimmerman was a perfect 4-for-4 from long range in the second half including his seventh made trifecta at the 2:23 mark that put the Pacers up 11 before Barton attempted its desperation comeback.
The Bulldogs would cut the lead to three points with 40 seconds left, but a Zimmerman dagger from long range with only 10 seconds remaining would push the lead back to six. The Pacers would add a free throw to post the final at 82-75.
Butler chipped in 16 points by shooting 7-for-10 from the field. Butler also grabbed a game-high nine boards to finish just shy of a double-double. Nelson just missed out on a double-double as well with 13 points, nine assists and three steals. Nelson added another award to his shelf to go along with the Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year and Peach Belt Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player awards. Paul Larsen was the final Pacer with a double-figure scoring total for USC Aiken, chipping in 10 points. Jesse Seilern stuffed the scorebook again with eight points, six rebounds, three assists, one block and one steal.
Manley scored 15 points and pulled down six rebounds. Manley averaged 10.3 points and six rebounds.
Hart had his best game of the Regional for Barton in the championship with 13 points, a team-high seven rebounds and a game-high four steals.
USC Aiken finished the game connecting on 54.7 percent (29-for-53) of their shots from the floor including a staggering 17-of-26 (65.4%) in the second half. The Pacers shot 52.4 percent (11-for-21) from long range and 72.2 percent (13-for-18) from the charity stripe in the victory.
Barton shot 47.5 percent (28-for-59) from the field in the game, including 50 percent (8-for-16) from 3-point range. The Bulldogs finished shooting 64.7 percent (11-for-17) from the foul line.
BC had a slim 32-29 rebounding edge and made three more steals than USCA with 11 thefts. Both teams committed 18 turnovers in the high pressure atmosphere.
"Aiken is not only athletic and talented, but they play hard.
Boston concluded "…we have nothing to be upset about. We made a great run and had a great year. A lot of teams wish they made it this far with only 16 teams left. To be a part of that is special. It hurts right now but in the long run when I look back I will realize we had a great run this year."
